The Power of Collaborative Inquiry and Metaphor in Meeting the Health Literacy Needs of Rural Immigrant Women

Abstract

Rural communities often face the need to reach out to immigrant groups to help sustain their populations. However, rural communities often lack the necessary support and resources required to meet the needs of immigrant communities. This chapter reports on the role of a participatory education project in meeting the needs of immigrant Old Colony Mennonite women. Building on an existing ESL program in a rural community in Southwestern Ontario, a participatory health literacy pilot project was developed employing an action research format. With the participants, the authors explored the participant identified topic of dealing with the stress of parenting, using metaphors (presentational knowing) and collaborative inquiry. Post-project, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were completed with participants and program staff. Interview data was analyzed using a constant comparison method and five themes are identified and discussed: (1) reconsidering the nature of their children; (2) the power of language to transform; (3) modeling with language; (4) changing parental behaviours; and (5) normalizing what happens at home. The authors then discuss the efficacy of utilizing presentational knowing and collaborative inquiry as a pedagogical strategy for meeting the learning needs of rural immigrants.