All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Caitriona Stewart Short |
|---|---|
| Email: | caitriona.stewartshort@ucd.ie |
| Institution: | Migration Citizenship Research Initiative,University College Dublin |
Participatory Research and Action is an approach and a set of tools for helping groups of people to identify their own issues or problems, work out options for handling them, create an action plan and organize to carry out the plan.
Communities that have used these techniques can pass them on to new communities. Populations of immigrant origin are growing in Europe, however immigrants are underrepresented in many fields of civic activities, therefore immigrant inclusion and civic participation has been recognised as a crucial issue for democracy in the European Union.
The EU Gruntvig WinAct Project is an academic development and curriculum design project, based on adult teaching and learning methodologies, underpinned by the demand for learning among immigrant adults who are under - represented in life-long learning. Through the design and dissemination of an innovative and international curriculum, it aims to raise civic participation of immigrants in trade unions and political parties. Three common elements found in a PRA approach are: Critical self-aware responsibility, Equity and empowerment, Diversity. Assumptions underlying participatory research and action approaches include:
Øall the people involved in a situation have insights and perspectives to contribute
Østakeholders can participate in the process of producing useful information
Øthe role of the professional researchers vis-à-vis the other participants is that of a learner not a teacher
Øthe techniques are primarily aids to group discussion, and are visually accessible to literate and non-literate people alike
Øthe resulting research should be tied to action; the role of the practitioner is to co-facilitate action, in partnership with the community or group.
Øthe participatory research can be a particularly supportive approach for women, migrants and other excluded and marginalized groups. It deliberately seeks these out these groups, both as research team members and as local participants.
Methodology
ØFocus Groups ØInformant Interviews ØGroup Interviews ØFocus Group Discussions
(311 words)
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