Participatory Action Research
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Item Description of the methods of participation research(1978) Le Boterf, GuyThe article describes a research method used to identify the basic educational needs of rural populations in six villages in Central America. The research method is an approach that combines experimental research with a participatory survey of the community to identify educational needs. The communities participated by defining the problems they were facing, discussing their situation, identifying their educational needs, and developing possible solutions. This is different from a typical survey, since community members were given an active role in the research activities. Moreover, they provided feedback and were actively involved in discussions at various stages of the study and research process. This allowed the researchers to discuss and analyse the results with the community and to use their feedback in understanding and addressing specific problems. The study began with an initial exploration of the community, followed by the identification and prioritisation of needs, setting educational goals, developing strategies, discussion with the community, and implementation of the strategies. Researchers and technical specialists acted as facilitators and educators rather than being the sole producers of knowledge. The study links research, education, and community action, which is intended not only to analyse the situation in the communities but also to contribute to solving the problems that were identified.Item Participatory research: A new methodology for adult educators?(National Center for Research in Vocational Education, 1979) Griffith, William S; Cristarella, Mary CParticipatory research is a term which has been appearing within the past several years in international adult education conferences and which some commentators believe has the potential of redirecting research within the field of adult education. The International Conference on Adult Education and Development held in Dar-es-Salaam in June, 1976, proposed that "all adult educators should receive training in the theory and practice of participatory research as well as in complementary quantitative research techniques" (Dar-es-Salaam Design for Action, 1976, p.32). The UNESCO program action plan for 1977-1982 includes the support of future participatory research (Hurly, 1976). Cain states "the forces producing the demand for something called 'participatory research' are numerous and compelling" (Cain, 1977, p.7).Item Building capacity through action learning(Institute for Development Research (IDR) Reports, 1993) Leach, MarkThe ability to learn from experience is critical for individuals and organizations seeking to be effective in rapidly changing and complex situations. Educators, corporate managers, public administrators, and grass roots activists have all been challenged by the dilemmas of learning from action and experience. While using many different terms (including action research, action science, experiential learning, participatory research, organizational learning, learning systems, etc.) these people have developed a rich and varied set of insights into facilitating what might be generally called "action learning." The purpose of this paper is to review several streams of work related to action learning (AL), and to consolidate some of the key principles in an effort to help organizations expand their capacity to develop action learning strategies. Particular attention will be paid to the relevance of action learning principles for non-governmental and community based organizations (NGOs and CBOs).Item Report of the international workshop PRA, literacy and empowerment: The reflect method(1994) Actionaid Bangladesh; Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE)The report discusses participatory research and its use in communities through PAR, PRA, and the reflect method. The report emphasizes that communities should not be passive providers of knowledge for research but active participants in diagnosing problems, sharing their knowledge, and finding solutions to these problems. The report provides many examples of participatory research from Caribbean, Africa, South Asia, Latin America, Canada, Indigenous knowledge, adult literacy, empowerment, and social change. The report also recognizes some of the challenges that participatory research faces, such as ensuring rigorous research, combining the expertise of professionals and community members, and applying research findings to actual action. Overall, the report shows that participatory research is used to make research more relevant to the communities in which it is conducted.Item From margins to center? The development and purpose of participatory research(The American Sociologist, 1992) Hall, Budd LThis article documents the development of the libratory stream of participa-tory research as experienced through the activities and connections of one of the key figures in the early development and dissemination of these ideas. It traces the developments in Tanzania in the early 1970s, through the establish-ment of the original Participatory Research Network to the elaboration of theoretical and political debates. It highlights the formulation and elaboration of participatory research as a contribution to social change in a variety of settings. It includes discussions of the feminist advance, the question of voice and the relationship of power to knowledge in transformative practice. It contains an extensive and historically valuable bibliography.Item Participatory training for promotion of social development(1996) Acharya, Binoy; Verma, ShaliniHow can participatory training and learning be undertaken with disadvantaged groups? In this article, Binoy Acharya and Shalini Verma discuss approaches to training that move beyond the mere transfer of information and place people’s confidence, experience, and critical awareness at the center. They argue that many marginalised communities have long experienced the devaluation of their own knowledge and capacities, which weakens participation and self belief. Therefore, participatory training must begin by helping people analyse their own realities, articulate their experiences, and recognise what they need to learn further. The article highlights the important role of grassroots trainers in understanding why people do not participate- including fear, exclusion, low confidence, and past experiences of being ignored. Training is therefore presented as a process of creating safe spaces for dialogue, reflection, and collective learning. Drawing from training designs adopted by Gujarat based NGOs, the authors show how structured modules on facilitation, group dynamics, self development, and training methods can build local leadership. Participatory training is thus presented as a means of fostering critical thinking, restoring confidence, and strengthening people’s capacities for social change.Item Participatory training and self development(0000) Acharya, Binoy; Verma, ShaliniHow should training be undertaken to encourage critical thinking and instill confidence in people? In this article, Binoy Acharya and Shalini Verma discuss the growing emphasis on training within the development sector while questioning approaches that reduce training to the mere transfer of information or techniques. They argue that many people, especially the poor and marginalised, experience the systematic devaluation of their own knowledge and capacities which weakens self confidence and participation. For this reason, simply providing more skills cannot by itself lead to empowerment, though external knowledge may still be useful. The focus of training, they argue, must be to foster critical thinking so that people can analyse their own realities, articulate their experiences, and identify what they need to learn further. Participatory training is highlighted as a process that breaks the culture of silence, restores faith in people’s own knowledge, and builds confidence for collective action. Social development, the authors emphasise, begins with the development of the self.Item Participatory research handbook for community groups(International Council for Adult Education, 1978-06) Barndt, Deborah; Conchelos, Greg; Etherington, Alan; Galindo, June; Hall, Budd L; Harasim, Linda; Jackson, Ted; Marino, Dian; Tobias, Kathy; Vigoda, Al; Correia, Dianne; Icaza, Bernardita; Mansfield, JenniferThis handbook is about doing participatory research in local groups and communities, prepared in 1978 by the Participatory Research Project Group at the International Council for Adult Education. It is written for community groups without the money, professional training, or institutional support that usually make research an exclusive activity. Three ideas run through the book: participatory research is a method of social interaction built on full community involvement, an educational process that raises awareness of local problems, and a means of acting on what the research finds. Control over how information is gathered, analyzed, and used is meant to stay with the community throughout. A circular model called the research puzzle organizes the handbook's practical sections, moving groups through knowing their situation, identifying resources and issues, gathering and understanding information, acting, and reflecting. A sample profile index built around a housing cooperative and six case studies from Canadian communities, unions, and cooperatives ground these ideas in practice. The authors call it a first draft and invite readers to help shape what comes next.Item Society for participatory research in Asia(1999) Tandon, RajeshThis press release is about the Bhopal Sammelan, a three-day gathering held in November 1999 that brought together about 1400 people from over 400 organisations and elected panchayat leaders across sixteen states. Organised by the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) with its partners, and hosted by Samarthan in Bhopal, the event drew social activists, development workers, trade unionists, tribal and women leaders, students and youth to build solidarity through cross-state exchange. Discussions were held around five themes: citizenship, empowerment, new leadership, accountable local self-governance and participatory social development. The Sammelan planned actions to hold public officials accountable, educate citizens on their rights, recognise emerging leadership among women, dalits and adivasis, and push for local control over land, forests and water. The event also marked the release of the India findings from the global study Citizens and Governance, conducted by PRIA and partners across ten states.Item Participatory research in Asia(1980) Tandon, RajeshThis book, edited by Rajesh Tandon and published in 1980 for the Asian-South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education, gathers the first two years of work under the Participatory Research Project coordinated through the International Council for Adult Education. He opens the collection with his own essay mapping the character of participatory research as it had taken shape across Asia by the late 1970s, tracing its overwhelmingly rural base, its entanglement with social action, and the political risk that came with working alongside landless labourers and tribal groups in states not always tolerant of organising. The theoretical section that follows sets contributors against each other rather than in agreement: Zafrullah Chowdhury reads decades of foreign-funded medical research in Bangladesh as a continuation of colonial control dressed up as philanthropy, while other papers by Banerjee, Ghosh and Das question participatory research's claims to method and rigour from more sceptical angles. The case studies, left largely unedited from their original submissions, cover a literacy programme in Mehrauli, the Shramik Sangathan's organising among agricultural workers, the Gonoshasthaya Kendra health centre in Dacca, and projects in the Philippines and Rajasthan, closing with reports from four regional meetings and a note on the project's founding objectives.