Experiential learning.....

Participatory action research has an emphasis on experiential learning....

Last week I got to do some of my own learning through 'doing' when I 

attended a meeting of a group involved in an action research project.

Action research is traditionally conceptualised as a series of cycles...

Image sourced from

http://celt.ust.hk/ideas/ar/intro.htm

Sitting in on the meeting it was not as clear cut as this cycle would suggest. It appeared to me that many of the stages were intertwined and would continue to be so for the duration of the project. This made for a more open-ended process that was responsive to change and new data/directions emerging in the research.

During the meeting participants....

• Reflected on what have the group had done so far 
• Discussed where they wanted to go (with the initial identified problem and data they had compiled so far)
  
• Planned action to be taken in the coming weeks and months
• Reflected and discussed other issues they may want to address in the future
• Discussed pragmatic concerns such as budgets and distribution of information 

Several things seemed to make this meeting successful including:

• Power-sharing.....Encouraging group members to take up roles of responsibility
• The acknowledgement of different skills and expertise within the group...
• Group facilitation...the use of open questions and reflecting back to the group....
  
• Range of levels of participation within the group... 
• High level of participant interest, involvement and commitment to the issues/problems

A Ladder of Citizen Participation

Lori Letts discussed using frameworks to analyse the level of involvement participants had in projects. One of these was Sherry Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation.

Image source: http://ncdd.org/rc/item/4464

The ladder moves from non-participation to citizen power...... interesting concepts to consider when aiming for client participation in research or occupational therapy.


Reference:
 Arnstein, S. (1969). A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, 35(4), 216-224.

Levels of participation and power relationships.....

I have been reading and re-reading a 2003 journal article by Lori Letts: Occupational therapy and participatory action research: A partnership worth pursuing.  

Letts discusses the key principles of participatory action research and outlines examples of PAR projects undertaken by herself and other occupational therapists. These include PAR projects working with a range of groups (occupational therapists, parents of children with disabilities, people with physical disabilities, older adults and adults with mental health issues).

Letts notes that PAR is a good fit with occupational therapists commitment to client-centred and occupation-focused practice.

Whilst on one level Letts' article functions as an endorsement of the relationship of participatory action research to occupational therapy she also raises a number of challenging questions regarding levels of participation within  the PAR projects she discusses. As outlined earlier in this blog the ideal within PAR is that participants be involved in all stages of the research...in reality, a number of the projects did not meet this ideal....

• The research question/problem was generated by the researcher not from the concerns of the community
• There was variable participation....participants were more involved in some phases of the research than others
• Participants were more likely to be involved in the action phases of the projects than the analysis of data and the distribution of findings to the wider community

I am left with the following questions.....

How much participation is enough? 

Is some participation is better than none? 

How do you ensure high levels of participant ownership of research?

How do you balance the different types of expertise that community members and external researchers bring to the project? Especially when some forms of knowledge/expertise are valued more than others.

Letts notes that it is essential that there is a transparent process of identifying power differences and that researchers/academics working within a PAR framework are willing to share knowledge and power with participants. 

Reference:

Letts, L. (2003). Occupational therapy and participatory action research: A partnership worth pursuing. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57, 1, 77-87.

 

Recipes for Life

'Recipes for Life' was a participatory action research project completed in 2002-2004 by the Institute for Community Research. The project enabled a group of older adults to share their perspectives on successful aging with each other and the wider community. The older adults "exchanged family food recipes, life stories, and successful aging strategies" which were documented via photographs, text, and portraits of the participants and exhibited to the wider public within their housing building and at a community art gallery. The project encouraged social interaction, creativity and self-expression and celebrated the knowledge and experiences of the older people involved. It also further developed knowledge around the strategies older adults use to age well in the community. 
Click here for detailed info on this project....

References:
Institute for Community Research. (n.d.). Recipes for life. Retrieved from http://www.incommunityresearch.org/research/programsrecipesforlife.htm

Institute for Community Research. (n.d.). Participatory action research training and evaluation. http://www.incommunityresearch.org/research/paresearch.htm

Institute for Community Research

Found an amazing organisation on the internet this weekend...The Institute of Community Research which is based in the United States. Their aim is "research partnerships for healthy communities". They have a detailed website listing detailing past and present projects. Totally inspiring, I would highly recommend a visit.

This year a number of our classes at polytech have included a shift in focus from working with individuals to working alongside communities and populations. We have looked at the principles and application of health promotion and community development. Participatory action research fits well with this new orientation in occupational therapy. 

Why do we research......?

Juliet Merrifield a researcher in the field of adult education asks the following questions....

"Why do we do research? Who benefits from it? Who uses the information we gather, and what for? What is worth researching? These are the central questions which Participatory Action Research (PAR) makes us confront" (Merrifield, 1997). 

Here is a link to her article: Knowing, Learning, Doing: Participatory Action Research

References
Merrifield, J. (1997). Knowing, Learning, Doing: Participatory Action Research. Focus on  Basics: Connecting Research & Practice, 1(A), downloaded from http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=479.

Participatory Action Research defined.....

I have been enthusing to a range of people around the polytech about this research approach.
I have noticed there can be a point when their eyes glaze over. 
This seems to be related to the name. Say it with me (deep breath) 
Participatory Action Research ......

So l'm going to try and break down each word according to my current understanding of PAR...

Participatory..... .  

• Participants play an active role in all aspects of the research process; from establishing the problem or concern to finding possible solutions, implementation and evaluation of the outcomes
• The research process draws on participants current knowledge and strengths.
• Participants become empowered as co-researchers and gain skills in research processes and facilitating change.
• Participants are active subjects vs passive objects of study. Research is carried out in partnership ‘with’ participants......not......... ‘for’ or ‘on’ or ‘about’  participants. 

Action..... 

• PAR approaches aim to create positive social change in the real world.
• This approach eliminates the research/practice 'gap' where there is a lag between the research being published and its application to clinical practice.
• The action that is taken is sustainable because it is generated from the participants genuine concerns and situated within local contexts. 

Research........ 

• The research process aims to generate both practical outcomes and “knowledge that is useful and meaningful to participants” p. 84 (Ritchie, Bernard, Trede, Hill, & Squires, 2003).
• Knowledge is created through a cyclical process of experiential learning.....action and reflection on action (Liamputtong, 2009). 
  
• PAR projects emphasise learning of all involved the participants and the researcher/s. 

References

Liamputtong, P. (2009 ). Qualitative research methods (3rd ed.). Australia: Oxford. 

Ritchie, J., Bernard, D., Trede, F., Hill, B., & Squires, B. (2003). Using a participatory action  research approach as a process for promoting the health of older people. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 14, 54-60.  

Rit

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Benefits of Participatory Action Research

VOYCE (Voices of Youth in Chicago Education) 

VOYCE is a youth-led project that allows high school students to use Participatory Action Research in order to address the drop out rate in Chicago Public High Schools. This collaborative project engages 7 different community organizations from around the Chicago area. 

Fantastic example of the benefits of PAR ... key messages include:

• Problem and need for change defined by the community. 
• Participants are seen as the experts on their lives. 
• Social change is led from the 'ground up'. 
• Being involved in the research project and in making practical positive change to their community leads to individual and group empowerment.

A longer video by VOYCE available here