Participatory Action Research Techniques Research Articles

Understanding gender and sexuality: The hidden curriculum in English schools

AbstractSchools continue to produce regimes of gender and sexuality, including overt and covert curricula based on assumed essentialist differences between girls and boys, reinforced and regulated through uniform, sport and peer pressure. The recent focus on the experiences of trans and non‐binary children in schools makes visible the ways in which all children are subject to heteronormatively gendered regulatory and disciplinary techniques in everyday school life. This article discusses the findings from a pilot study drawing on participatory action research techniques with 42 young people in six workshops in north‐east England. Recruitment methods were required to be flexible given the context within which the study was conducted, which was with Covid‐19 mitigations in place. This meant that we were not able to be fully inclusive of young people from local youth groups as they were either not meeting or only meeting online. We thus had to mainly recruit from university student societies and student residences from which we organised three workshops; sports organisations from which we organised one workshop, and a local youth group with which we ran one workshop. The final workshop was conducted with young people who had attended one of the previous five workshops, to enable feedback on our analysis. All participants were over 16 years of age. The majority of participants were women (25) with 16 men, including one transman, and one non‐binary person. Most identified as white (31) with the rest identifying as Black, East Asian and British ‘Other’ (11). The focus of the workshops was to explore with young people their memories about where and how they first encountered being ‘gendered’ and/or having a sexuality. The data has been collected, recorded and transcribed within strict ethical guidelines. The workshop data has been analysed using a grounded theory approach, where we developed the theoretical models from the data. This article focuses on those key moments when their behaviours, presentation and/or ideas were subject to facilitators and/or regulators of their gender and/or sexuality. We draw out the contradictions inherent in, on the one hand, the essentialist rationales for difference and inequalities between genders and sexualities in schools and, on the other hand, the apparent need to enforce these ‘natural’ differences and inequalities. Participatory creative approaches were adopted in each workshop to promote conversations and drawings about who regulated/facilitated their gender and/or sexuality and how they did so. Each workshop cumulatively informed the next, leading to a sixth synthesising workshop that collectively analysed young people's reflections. Drawing on the conceptual frameworks of epistemic injustice (M. Fricker, Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing, Oxford University Press, 2007) and ‘space for action’ we conclude that young people want and need brave active spaces to discuss and ‘do’ gender and sexuality, and to resist essentialism and social control. Schools can be both places where control is created and entrenched and where it can also be resisted. Our research suggests that better whole school responses to dismantle regimes of gender and sexuality can be created by and for young people.

Environmental Conservation in non-Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management Program at Company Unit of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga Region Sumbagut

This study aims to introduce the initiatives undertaken by various divisions within PT Pertamina Patra Niaga Region Sumbagut in effectively managing non-B3 waste with a focus on environmental preservation. Qualitative methods and participatory action research techniques were employed to achieve this objective. The findings of this research demonstrate that non-hazardous solid waste is mitigated through digitization and repurposing. Digitization is applied to paper waste to prevent accumulation, while repurposing involves converting organic, plastic, and rubber waste into reusable objects. Both waste management models prioritize environmental conservation and lead to cost savings. The efficient utilization of non-B3 solid waste serves as an exemplary approach to minimizing waste impacts throughout various activities, underscoring a strong commitment to environmental preservation.

Efforts to end a stalemate in landslide insurance availability through inclusive policymaking: A case study in Sitka, Alaska

Stalemates frequently obstruct disaster risk management related initiatives, including related to risk financing. They can arise from misaligned stakeholder objectives and a cognitive effort to avoid decision-making under uncertainty. Participatory action research techniques can be useful for overcoming stalemates but have not been examined in the context of disaster risk management. To fill this gap, we explored how participatory techniques could overcome one disaster risk financing related stalemate: the case of landslide insurance in a highly landslide-prone location, Sitka, Alaska. Landslide insurance in Sitka is a classic stalemate, as diverse stakeholders see the value of offering a landslide insurance policy, but their respective concerns and information gaps stymie their ability to feel confident in decision-making making landslide insurance generally unavailable. Utilizing a series of inclusive interviews and workshops as our participatory techniques, respondents describe how the workshop engendered confidence in the prospect of landslide insurance, specifically by brokering new relationships and serving as a catalyst for new public-private partnerships while effectively reframing the landslide risk financing conundrum. However, they also note that a new market for landslide insurance requires sufficient state or Federal funding support, improved probabilistic landslide models, and sustained consumer demand. This suggests that participatory techniques can play an enabling role in overcoming stalemates, but only if certain conditions are in place. These findings may have relevance to policymakers facing stalemate-related obstacles in disaster risk management.

Memoria histórica del proceso educativo en el Corregimiento de El Plateado - Municipio de Argelia Cauca

El presente artículo surge como resultado de un ejercicio de sistematización de una experiencia educativa rural en el Departamento del Cauca - Colombia, específicamente en el Corregimiento de El Plateado, Municipio de Argelia Cauca, trabajo que planteó dentro de sus objetivos, reconstruir la memoria colectiva del proceso educativo desde la Institución Educativa Técnica Miguel Zapata, buscando con ello aportar elementos históricos de interés que posibiliten la identificación de los hitos más importantes dentro de la historia educativa local y a su vez, permita pensar en estrategias que ayuden a fortalecer los procesos pedagógicos en un escenario atravesado por una economía ilícita. El artículo se enmarca dentro de estrategias de investigación cualitativa en el marco de la sistematización de experiencias educativas, recurriendo a técnicas de investigación acción participativa para la reconstrucción de los sucesos más importantes de la educación en El Plateado. Como resultados relevantes, se resalta la historia de la Institución Educativa Técnica Miguel Zapata como la narrativa del trabajo organizado de la comunidad, del esfuerzo y exigencias hechas por estudiantes, padres de familia y docentes ante las instancias gubernamentales, del apoyo de organismos internacionales y nacionales, pero sobre todo, el sueño de un colectivo que ve en la institución una oportunidad y posibilidad de realizar transformaciones en materia cultural que permitan pensar y soñar en la idea de un Plateado, en el cual los jóvenes sean los actores principales de cambio.

Sustainability of agroecosystems in a Rural Reserve Area of Pradera, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Abstract In the San Isidro district of the municipality of Pradera, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, communities have organized themselves to care for, cultivate, protect and defend life through the establishment of a Rural Reserve Area (RRA) that promotes agroecological practices based on peasant lifestyles, that is, in ways of inhabiting the world, which allow us to cultivate and affirm life. An assessment of the sustainability of these practices is required, however, the MESMIS type methods -Framework for the Evaluation of Natural Resource Management Systems incorporating Sustainability Indicators-, although they provide short-, medium- and long-term information for decision-making by the farmer, they have failed to identify the indicators that have the greatest weight in each assessed attribute. This research allows to identify the indicators with the greatest weight in each attribute, that is, the most relevant ones when structuring a management proposal that allows the sustainability of the agroecosystems. The objective was to evaluate the sustainability of the agroecosystems in the Rural Reserve Area (RRA) of Pradera, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Methodologically, a semi-structured survey and 26 indicators, which were built with farmers using Participatory Action Research techniques, were considered. The units of study included 14 agroecosystems. Statistically, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and cluster analysis were used. The results revealed that the agroecosystems of the RRA of Pradera, Valle del Cauca, presented significant differences for the attributes evaluated, namely productivity, stability, resilience and reliability, adaptability, equity and self-management; it was also found that the cluster analysis collected 62.82% of the observed variability in the three main dimensions. It was concluded that there are three types of agroecosystems, namely sustainable, in transition, and not sustainable.

SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT OF TRADITIONAL CRAFT INDUSTRY IN LOPATI TOURISM VILLAGE, YOGYAKARTA

Ecotourism has been growing in Yogyakarta that can be seen through the development of rural tourism. The development of rural tourism has positive impact to improve local community’s welfare nevertheless, it has also negative impact onto environmental carrying capacity. Lopati tourism village is located in Bantul, Yogyakarta, relying on traditional craft industry as tourism attraction. Traditional crafts are livelihood of local residents, so that environmental management efforts become part of their daily lives. This research aims to review the roles of community to reduce environmental impacts through analyzing the waste management of traditional craft industry. It used case study method to examine the uniqueness of Lopati village. Data collecting used participatory action research techniques in order to gather information from residents. Community participation acted to anticipate negative impact on development of rural tourism. Waste management in Lopati committed by local residents not to cause adverse environmental impacts. The result show that waste management based on community participation supports the development of rural tourism.

From Framework to Practice: Person‐Directed Planning in the Real World

Person-directed planning (PDP) is an approach to planning supports that aims to redistribute power from the service system to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and natural supports, improve relationships and build community. To do this, the right people with the right attitudes engaging in the right actions are needed. This paper examines how key elements in PDP contribute to successes in planning. Researchers worked with three planning teams from different community service agencies using participatory action research techniques (i.e. free list and pile sort, Socratic wheel, whys/hows exercise). Most key elements of PDP were relevant to each team. Perceptions of which had most contributed to planning successes differed. The various elements of PDP are used by and useful to planning teams, although some may be more relevant to some successes than others because of specific goals, or the person's strengths and needs.

Structuration, ICTs, and Community Work

This paper reports upon the outcomes of an action research project which took place with a network of neighbourhood houses (community-based organisations) in the Western Region of Melbourne, Australia. Our first aim was to engage community-based organisations, through participatory action research techniques, to develop information and knowledge management plans for an electronic community network. Our second was to integrate structuration theory and theories of participatory action research, in order to provide a new context for understanding how ICTs can be used with community-based organisations. The paper reports on the major issues found in the research, and plans developed to address those issues.