Variations of I: Setting the Poetic Tone for Student-Voiced Action Research

Abstract

In this article, we explore how the poetic rendering of an initial focus group transcript with five secondary school students in an alternative education setting in Aotearoa, New Zealand, set the tone for an entire action research. Each year, approximately 3,500 secondary school students are referred to alternative education provisions due to suspensions, exclusions, and truancy. Two-thirds of these students are rangatahi Māori (Māori young people). Alternative education teachers, however, know little about their students’ schooling histories. Using participatory action research, teachers explored critical moments from young people’s education journeys. Found poems created from the first focus group with students, including the creation of I poems, set the tone for action research. These poems exposed more widely the twofold I-Thou/I-It attitude that has shaped the students’ lived experiences, and as a response, researchers gave heed to I-Thou as they shaped the research approach.