ERIC Number: EJ1404469
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0965-0792
EISSN: EISSN-1747-5074
Performance as Transformation / Transformative: Problematizing Performance in PAR
Meagan Call-Cummings; Giovanni P. Dazzo; LeAnne Beardsley; Jeffrey Blibo
Educational Action Research, v31 n5 p852-867 2023
In participatory action research (PAR), university-based researchers often take foundational concepts such as transformation, empowerment, critical consciousness, and mutual understanding for granted as desirable or necessary outcomes or achievements. We discuss the danger of this and suggest that researchers recognize these as processes that participants may or may not experience, achieve, or even desire. In this manuscript, four members of a long-term research collective engage in reflexive practice to problematize notions of transformation and empowerment in PAR, with the aim of pushing ourselves to align our epistemological commitments with our practice of participatory inquiry. We focus on whether, and to what extent, high school co-researchers considered the performative components of a PAR project -- such as Theatre of the Oppressed and spoken word poetry -- to be transformative experiences and what, in fact, transformation means to them. As we explore our various experiences with and perspectives on performance in the context of PAR, we question and problematize its use, and call on other participatory inquirers to no longer take for granted its purpose or outcomes.
Descriptors: Participatory Research, Action Research, Transformative Learning, Empowerment, Reflection, Problem Solving, High School Students, Student Research, Academic Achievement
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: District of Columbia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A