Community-based Action Research Research Articles

Understanding the impact on children’s citizenship of participating in community-based action research

ABSTRACT This paper explores the lived experience of citizenship of working-class girls from a marginalised ex-mining town in northern England engaged as community researchers in participatory action research. The research aimed to better understand the relationships within their local community. Qualitative methods were used to examine the girls’ experience of the research and its impact on their sense of community, which is discussed using the lens of ‘lived citizenship’ (Kallio et al. 2020). We conclude that children’s experience of participatory research approaches can be understood as subjective or lived citizenship. This contributes to understanding how they perceived their acts of citizenship, particularly in relation to others in their community. Supporting the international literature on subjectivity in citizenship studies and the critical appreciation of intersectionality in in participatory research, this paper demonstrates how such involvement can lead to positive subjective outcomes in groups experiencing marginalisation, such as working-class girls.

Community-Based Action Research Intervention to Promote Occupational Health Nursing of Portuguese Quarry Workers.

The northern region of Portugal has the largest number of companies manufacturing granite and stone products, which has become the region's trademark. In the municipalities of Marco de Canaveses and Penafiel, the economic activity of this area is important. However, the lack of attractiveness of this activity, combined with the high prevalence of silicosis and tuberculosis in this population, has led to a growing shortage of labor. In order for this project to be the result of collaborative, integral work centered on the people who are the target of health promotion, we used the Participatory Health Research (PHR) approach, based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model, to implement a mixed-methods study, including participant observation, interviews and document analysis. These data were used to co-create a study design. In 2021, a total of 102 interviews were carried out and self-completion surveys were distributed: the Fantastic Lifestyle Questionnaire (FLQ) and the EQ-5D-3L. Within the scope of occupational health nursing and in the field of action of public health nurses, with the interviews and self-completed surveys carried out, we identified potential focuses for occupational health nursing intervention to promote the health of stone industry workers: adherence to protective measures, energy balance deficit, tobacco and alcohol consumption and access to health services. Data analysis made it possible to assess the prevalence of risk behaviors by order and to involve managers and workers in the co-creation of a health promotion program. The accurate identification of the focuses for nursing intervention not only improves the effectiveness of occupational health services, allowing for targeted interventions adapted to workers' needs, but also contributes considerably to health promotion in the workplace, resulting in safer working environments, a reduction in occupational diseases and, consequently, a healthier and more productive workforce. This protocol of this study was not registered.

Community-Based Teacher Education: The Experiences of Teacher Candidates Learning Alongside Grassroots Youth Organizers

This community-based action research (CBAR) project acknowledges and disrupts existing systemic barriers to bring teacher candidates and grassroots youth organizers together through dialogue and reflection for transformative action. The practice of community-based pedagogy is described and utilized to demonstrate how critical understandings of community may imagine new ways of learning in conventional teacher education programs. This process enhances teacher candidates’ understanding and use of community-based pedagogy while supporting youth organizers in social justice initiatives within schools and communities. The findings, which draw from the CBAR project of a white, cis-gender woman who is a teacher educator-scholar-community organizer, provide implications for teacher educators aiming to foster collaborative partnerships with youth-centered grassroots community organizations and intergenerational community members. Teacher educators are invited to engage in paradigm shifts to curate community-based teacher education programs that are stimulated by and benefit local schools and communities.

Doing rural community-based action research (CBAR): Community perceptions and methodological impacts

Researchers conducting community-based action research (CBAR) become immersed in their field site, developing close relationships and enabling members of the community to pursue social action. We contribute a nuanced analysis of the impact of CBAR on those who participate in the method, particularly participants who live rurally. Situating this work in the history and prior methodological examinations of CBAR, we demonstrate the critical relationship between this research approach and the rural landscape. Our findings speak to two research questions: how do participatory- and otherwise community-based, action-oriented research methods impact those who participate in research? And, how do researchers and research participants make sense of this impact? Using interview, observation, and photographic data, our analysis indicates that community members’ perceptions of CBAR exist on a spectrum situated around two key, but fluid, positions: the ‘trusted outsider’ and the ‘affective collaborator.’ Our findings provide researchers with a stronger methodological foundation to approach community-based, action-oriented research with an ethic of care. Further, our findings provide methodologists with a better understanding of the multi-directional impact of doing CBAR and the ways we can use this information to do CBAR ethically and effectively. In this way, our paper contributes to a growing body of scholarship regarding the practice and impact of collaborative, community-based research approaches.

Reading the world: English-language literatures as a tool for fostering critical language awareness

This paper summarises how a critical pedagogical approach was joined with community-based action research to foster a critical language awareness (CLA) perspective in redesigning and implementing the course, Practice in communicating English literature. Held at Eötvös Loránd University’s Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education (ELTE TÓK) as a part of the English specialisation programme in bilingual education for pre-service primary teachers, the curriculum used for teaching this course originally emphasised literary history, canonical works, chronological order, and literacy, all earmarks of the kind of literature pedagogy most commonly employed in Hungarian classrooms. The questions investigated in this research therefore examine whether students socialised in the literature pedagogy methods listed above would react positively to unfamiliar materials and practices; whether literature could promote language learning in a way that emphasises content over literacy; and whether literature could motivate adult language learners to become autonomous language users who possess their own, English-language identity. The example of the first known, English-language autobiography, The Book of Margery Kempe (1501/1985), will provide a set of practices (including storytelling, creative writing, role play and debate) for promoting critical language awareness among pre-service primary teachers. Redefining the aims and material for Practice in communicating English literature demanded further investigation in affirming its effectiveness while assessing the need to expose students to a broader range of cultural influences. The qualitative methods of document/coursebook analysis, observation, and a questionnaire conducted with students provide further input in determining whether the selected curriculum promotes CLA and Krachu’s definition of world Englishes (1996).

Gullion, J. S., & Tilton, A. (2020). Researching with: A decolonizing approach to community-based action research. Brill.

Gullion, J. S., & Tilton, A. (2020). Researching with: A decolonizing approach to community-based action research. Brill.

Film ethnography and critical consciousness: exploring a community-based action research methodology for Freirean transformation

Film ethnography is established within social development academia and praxis, but there is limited impact-evidence of its ability to positively transform participant communities through studies based on credible theoretical underpinnings. This article suggests that Paulo Freire’s ‘critical consciousness’ theory, involving self-reflection and transformation, has relevance for film ethnography because ethnographic film can present life situations back to its subjects in ways that allow people to view themselves differently. Fieldwork is presented describing the use of film ethnography as an action research methodology based on Freirean principles where vulnerable Nepali communities (whose lives and livelihoods are heavily dependent on working equines) and their equines engaged in participatory film ethnography, as part of ongoing engagement activities by project partners seeking transformation in working equine welfare and the economic stability of equine-owning communities. The broader historical theoretical underpinnings of ethnographic film are discussed, followed by a description of how they were applied in the action research. Informed by Heider the authors have resisted the temptation to define and apply ethnographic film as an absolute, but rather as ‘various attributes, or dimensions, that effect ethnographicness’ in films and filmmaking methodologies. Similarly, participation is presented as characteristics of ‘participatoryness’ utilising the Johari Window, created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in 1955. Drawing on Wiek et al.’s ‘effect-capturing approach’ an evaluation methodology is described aligned to Freire’s conscientisation praxis using high levels of participant self-reflection. Initial findings do evidence some effectiveness of community-based film ethnography as an action research methodology for positive change based on Freirean methodologies, showing transformation in participant knowledge of, and behaviour towards, their equines. A longitudinal study is planned to explore whether these changes sustain into the long-term. The community transformations that have emerged from the film ethnography process offer improvement in the health and wellbeing of equines, promoting greater resilience and stability of income generation capacity within communities. Some positive enhancement of the wider socio-political environment for equine welfare is emerging through stakeholder engagement and new equine outreach services. The bespoke evaluation methodology employed contributes to the originality of the research findings and outcomes. This project has attracted interest from other Nepali social development organisations, questioning if the overall methodology is transferable to help address other social challenges in under-resourced rural areas. The authors also believe this project has opened a discussion around Freirean liberation applied to animal wellbeing, in the context of restoring humanity. Finally, the authors suggest that, by going beyond observational cinema and demonstrating ethnographic film as an action research methodology that can catalyse transformation within communities, this article presents the type of participatory praxis that Henley alludes to, offering ‘interesting possibilities for “ways of doing” ethnographic film in the twenty-first century’.

Working from the Ground Up and Participatory Action Research: An old urban neighbourhood in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This article presents a community-based action research project in a low-income neighborhood in Hong Kong that adopted the Working from the Ground Up (WFGU) model. In the context of the neoliberal turn, the WFGU approach reminds researchers and practitioners to begin with the disadvantaged groups’ perceptions of the neighborhood and priorities for changes. The WFGU and action research process involved four phases: observation, reflection, planning, and actions. The four-year action research project indicates the potential of promoting the participation of tenants of sub-divided units (SDUs), a type of sub-standard housing in Hong Kong. The SDU tenants used Photovoice in community assessment. They critically assessed the causes of neighborhood issues and were committed to making changes collectively.

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND RELATED DEMENTIAS RISK AND PSYCHOSOCIAL HEALTH NEEDS OF OLDER ADULT IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

Abstract To establish priorities for an intervention addressing Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) risk among older adult immigrants and refugees from Afghanistan and the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA). A multi-methods Community-Based Collaborative Action Research design was employed to gather qualitative and quantitative data. Twenty community leaders and stakeholders participated in interviews and community needs survey responses of 124 ethnically diverse adults over age 55 were examined. We analyzed community needs survey data using descriptive statistics. A step-wise Thematic Analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts. A major theme and standout priority was identified: needing culturally-sensitive services and resources addressing social isolation among the elderly. Other psychosocial priorities included: accessibility needs, caregiving support, safety and end-of-life resources, digital literacy, and English language services. This study exemplifies a priority-setting partnership between clinician-researchers and refugee service providers. The priorities highlighted ADRD risk factors and guide the collaborative development of a community-based intervention.

Setting a lived experience agenda for rural suicidality research in Canada.

The perspectives of rural communities, specifically people with lived experience of suicidality and suicide loss in rural places, are often neglected in suicide research. It is critical that rural and remote health researchers acquire a deeper understanding of suicidality in rural Canadian communities for generation of relevant knowledge to better inform the development of suicide prevention, intervention and postvention solutions. This article presents research findings of how rural residents understand their community values, what information gaps they identify in relation to current suicide research, and how research can be mobilized to reach rural communities. Researchers conducted six virtual focus groups with 47 participants from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador between March and May 2021. All focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis. Focus group findings revealed the need for research that recognizes the significance of rural culture, the sense of community experienced and the ways in which they shape rural suicide experiences with associated impacts of suicide. Participatory, community-based action research methods are required to examine the interplay between rural residence, community, and suicide. In addition, the voices of rural people with lived experience of suicide are absent in the research literature. The need exists for qualitative research conducted for the purpose of investigating the lived experience of rural suicidality. Research participants asked that a lived experience agenda be prioritized to include the voices and stories of rural people, with consideration of rural culture, an aspect of rural suicidality currently not evident in Canadian research literature.

SCALING UP POSITIVE PARENTING PRACTICES IN UGANDA: RESEARCH EVIDENCE FROM AN INTEGRATED COMMUNITY-LED INITIATIVE FOR REDUCING VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN LIRA DISTRICT, NORTHERN UGANDA

Community-based action research is increasingly gaining traction in development work, partly because of its benefits in contextualizing societal problems and “handing over the stick” to the communities; that is, researchers listen, question, and learn as the experts (the community members) identify their problems and define the change they desire. This research approach, therefore, empowers communities and is a shift from traditional research where the researcher presupposes that deductions about a phenomenon are to be made outside the natural environment. This research paper documents the use of participatory learning and action approaches in designing, implementing, and monitoring interventions to prevent violence against children in post-conflict northern Uganda, a region that suffered through the Lord’s Resistance insurgency from 1987 to 2006.

Interdisciplinary Community Based Learning to Enhance Competence of Digital Citizenship of Social Studies Pre-Service Teacher’s in Thai Context: Pedagogical Approaches Perspective

The objectives of this research were to 1) synthesize competency of digital citizenship and concepts of interdisciplinary community-based learning and 2) propose guidelines of interdisciplinary community-based learning management for promoting digital citizenship of pre-service teachers in the Thai context. The research was qualitative research conducted by using content analysis according to the grounded theory to obtain study results according to the objectives. The study results were as follows: 1. The results of synthesizing competency of digital citizenship and concepts of interdisciplinary community-based learning revealed that digital competencies which led to digital citizenship were as follows: Digital Access, Digital Literacy, Digital Commerce, Digital Safety and Resilience, Digital Participation and Agency, Digital Emotional Intelligence, Digital Creativity and Innovation, Digital Communication, Digital Ethics, Digital Health, and well-being. For concepts of interdisciplinary community based learning through pedagogical approaches, they consisted of Academically Based community Service / Civic learning / Environmental Education / Placed-based Education / Service Learning / Work-based Learning/Tech Pre /Ethical Case Studies/Social Engagement/Discipline-Based Model Problem-based Learning / Capstone course (a short course emphasizing self-study from actual and complicated problems) /Service Internship / Youth Apprenticeship / Community-Based Action Research Model /Experience-Based Career Education Volunteerism / Pre-Service Teacher /Field Education / Independent Study Modal and 2. Guidelines of managing interdisciplinary community based learning for promoting digital citizenship of pre-service teachers in the Thai context revealed that important issues leading to interdisciplinary community based learning management consisted of Contextaul Knowlegde / Academic study /Citizenship/ Community-based Learning/ Interdisciplinary approach/ Environmental Education/ Experiential Learning / Lifelong Learning.

“Sekolah Pasar” as an Effort to Revitalize Traditional Markets Become a Source of Economy and Learning Resources

This study aims to find the best model to revitalize the market. The model designed in this study is expected to maintain the existence of traditional markets, improve technical and managerial human resource capabilities in managing markets, and achieve economic independence for traders. The method used in this research is Community Based Action Research, involving all stakeholders in the market which are packaged in the form of “Sekolah Pasar”. This method is carried out so that the model designed is the result of the elaboration and optimization of assets owned by the market in the form of physical assets, cultural assets, philosophical assets and assets in the form of skills. The result of this research is the design of a traditional market model that is in accordance with the potential of the market. The by-product of this research is an increase in the literacy and skills of market traders, traditional market curricula and value chain networks for markets.Keywords: Market School; Traditional Market; Market Revitalization

“Mommy, I Want to Talk to My Dad”: Exploring Parental Incarceration, Bibliotherapy, and Storybooks

Parental incarceration often involves caregivers explaining the absence of a significant attachment to a child. Developmental scholars suggest that bibliotherapy and storybooks can provide both illustrative and explanatory frameworks for caregivers to discuss difficult topics with children. Storybooks paired with caregiver wisdom might help children to understand and adjust to the loss of a parent. However, scientific-based derivatives of caregiver experiences and communication practices integrated into storybooks are largely absent from the literature. To address this gap a qualitative community-based action research study was carried out in three contiguous phases, with 22 caregivers during 8 focus groups in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. Phase one entailed exploring caregiver-child communication practices related to parental incarceration. The second phase involved creating topic-specific stories integrated with bibliotherapeutic principles drawn from caregivers’ perceptions and narratives. The third phase included developing a web portal to host digital storybooks and companion resources. Catalytic validity was established through collaboration with the project team. Data analysis resulted in a robust theoretical framework and grounded theory entitled, Caregivers’ Family Relations Assessment and Communication Strategies (C-FRACS). Findings assert caregivers’ prerogatives on child well-being as a priority as it intersects with communication practices and epistemological concepts of explaining jail, prison, and parental incarceration to children.

A Qualitative Examination of Dialogical Elements in Anti-Racist Deep Canvassing Conversations

This community-based action research study aimed to better understand the dialogical process underlying deep canvassing (Denizet-Lewis, 2016), a social justice intervention technique for engaging in nonconfrontational discussions designed to constructively challenge prejudicial attitudes. Previously, it has been suggested, but not demonstrated, that cognitive dissonance and perspective taking may serve as the mechanisms of change that facilitate shifts in the process of these dialogues. In the current study, 15 anti-racist deep canvassing conversations with White individuals were facilitated by White canvassers working with Showing Up for Racial Justice New York City. A dialogical approach was used to address the question of what intrapsychic and interpersonal processes occurred in these conversations on the topic of reparations. Themes included Interpersonal Agreement, Intervoice Dynamics, Authoring the Self and the Other, and Bringing in Personal Experience. We discuss the results and implications for future action research with prejudice reduction interventions.

A Learning Journey through a Heart-Centered Book

As faculty for a graduate program in early childhood leadership, we co-designed a course on community-based action research around Patricia Wilson’s book, The Heart of Community Engagement: Practitioner Stories from Across the Globe. In this review we share how it mirrored our own deepening sense of community engagement practices, and how our students engaged with this unique text on their individual and collective learning journeys. We share highlights from the text that reinforced our sense of liberatory pedagogy. Wilson’s personal stories, as well as the stories of community-engaged practitioners across the globe , invite all of us to create our own purpose and intentions for the evolving path of facilitating change within ourselves and with others.

Disaster Risk Governance in Coastal Community for A Better Normal: The Philippine Experience

This study aims to: assess how local community stakeholders perceive disaster risk governance; determine the level of appreciation toward nature and environmental protection; train the local community stakeholders in climate change adaptation, disaster resilience and mitigation toward a cleaner, more productive, and better future through innovation and; identify the multi-stakeholders’ cooperation and their level of support to achieve sustainable lifestyles in coastal communities. Participatory action research was conducted in Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines with 155 respondents, while secondary data was reflected in this study. Survey instruments were patterned from Kaizer and Hartig (2011). The study views that nature and environmental protection as divergent manners turned out to be statistically associated. Gardening of various vegetables was introduced to women-residents to encourage them in engaging in nature and environment protection. The training on climate risk reduction, adaptation, and mitigation for barangay officials was conducted to protect coastal areas, preserving, and bringing back the beauty of nature was the contributory factor for multi-stakeholders’ cooperation for a better normal. The success of partnership among university, government, and barangay was manifested to community-based action research which can be seen as a paradigm of achieving sustainable lifestyles in responsive community engagement.

Research Beyond the Ivory Tower: A Book Review of Researching With: A Decolonizing Approach to Community-Based Action Research

This is a book review of Researching With: A Decolonizing Approach to Community-Based Action Research by Jessica Smartt Gullion and Abigail Tilton. The authors are both university professors and Deans who respectively specialize in Sociology and Social Work. The book uses qualitative research as it seeks to merge academia with the professional world. Researching With teaches academics to come alongside their study participants and apply research in professional contexts. I offered a critical analysis of Researching With by identifying themes and concepts that will benefit both expert and beginner researchers. The book will help readers frame research questions and understand the role of oppression in research.

Cultivating Inclusion: Belonging and Agency in Young Black Men through Civic Action Research

This paper examines how community-based civic action research can cultivate civic engagement, civic belonging, and shifts in civic stakeholders’ perceptions of racially and economically minoritized youth’s civic agency. Specifically, this paper examines the implementation of Youth, Research and Plan (YRP) – a community-based research methodology that cultivates equitable relationships between schools, cities, and communities by situating disenfranchised youth and their schools at the center of civic and urban planning – in a unique academic program focused on the development of Black manhood and achievement in a public high school. Using a Critical Race Theoretical application of Communities of Practice and drawing on qualitative data gathered over the course of two years, we show how YRP was instrumental in the development of three interrelated communities of practice that supported the youth’s academic endeavors and civic agency and yielded important shifts in civic stakeholders’ perceptions of and relations with Black urban youth.

Development of a Binational Framework for Active and Healthy Ageing (AHA) Bridging Austria and Slovenia in a Thermal Spa Region.

In view of ongoing demographic developments resulting in a longer life expectancy of the European population, the creation of “age-friendly” environments represents an initiative picked up by the European Union and its Member States to enable active and healthy ageing. The present study aims at the co-creation of a cross-border framework model to deploy a healthy ageing region linking Austria and Slovenia, building on previous work dealing with the development of an integrated regional ecosystem for active and healthy ageing. A qualitative, community-based action research method based on focus group discussions allowed the development of an exemplary framework model for active and healthy ageing building on cross-border collaboration in the region of Promura. Within the project group, twelve cross-border regional key assets were identified. In the course of further open discussions, an exemplary model for the deployment of a cross-border healthy ageing region was developed, comprising underlying fundamental environmental aspects, regional structures in the field of health and care as well as crosscutting features spreading across all levels. This article presents a promising, strategic co-creation approach on how to span a model on active and healthy ageing across two cross-border regions with similar characteristics and assets.