Transforming Thinking Amongst British African Caribbeans as an Academically Based Community Service Contribution

Abstract

This article reports on an ongoing action research project that focusses on the transformation of the British African Caribbean (BAC) lived experience through the strategic use of the educational process to meet their particular needs. The analytical framework that has been developed to achieve this outcome consists of four key academic ideas: academically based community service and transformative learning principles, conscious bicultural competence, Black socialisation, and social quality. Details are provided about the origins of the project idea and the BAC experience, as well as about the research process and its underlying principles. Reflections and comments from group participants help provide an overall picture of how the transformative process of the project was achieved, notwithstanding the challenges faced by both the initiating researcher and the project participants.