Learning To Facilitate Community-Based Research: Guidelines From a Novice Researcher

Abstract

The diversity of South Africa's population calls for authentic and contextually relevant participation in research that is community based. For novice researchers and researchers transitioning to participative methods, it can be challenging to facilitate a community-based research (CBR) project if they lack the necessary facilitation skills or experience. These skills are crucial to enable collaborative and participative learning. In this paper, I explain how I learnt to facilitate a participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) project through critical reflection on self and process. I generated data from my personal reflective journal entries and transcripts of our action learning group sessions, and I validated my claims to knowledge by recoding the data with two critical friends, my coauthors of this paper. The claims to knowledge I share in this paper are twofold. Firstly, I have come to know how to improve my facilitation skills and, secondly, I have learnt to use continuous critical self-reflection to guide my actions in conducting more ethical CBR, underpinned by the principles of PALAR. I believe that my account of learning may help other researchers improve their facilitation of community-based participatory research groups to become more confident, critically reflective, and ethical researchers.

Understanding inclusion in early childhood care and education: A participatory action learning and action research study

“…The three Rs of relationships, reflection and recognition are interwoven with the seven Cs and are contingent on each other (Schoonen et al 2021). Relationship building is an essential foundation of PALAR, and this important initial phase seeks to build trust and establish mutual goals and team spirit essential for the ongoing success and sustainability of a project (Zuber-Skerritt & Teare 2013).…”

“…This study seeks to explore how teachers understand inclusion in ECCE using a participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) design. PALAR promotes collaborative critical reflection and dialogue for participants to develop their agency and become enablers of change (Luthuli & Wood 2020;Schoonen, Wood & Kruger 2021;Setlhare-Kajee 2018;Zuber-Skerritt 2018). Studies have emphasised that inclusion is an important aspect of a quality early years programme (Aubert et al 2017;Underwood, Valeo & Wood 2012) as it ensures the equal access, participation and achievement of all children irrespective of diverse identities.…”

Participatory action research

“…Productive facilitation skills encourage open conversation and collective understandings of the problem at hand and how to address it. More specifically, good facilitation requires a sensitivity to the ongoing and competing social context, such as power relations, within the group to help shift power imbalances and enable participation by all 52 . Box 3 presents a PAR project that exemplifies the importance of relationship building in a community arts project.…”

A Participatory Research Workshop in Northern India—A Transnational Collaboration

“…The workshop provided the opportunity to learn how to incorporate field-learning strategies into research and also to conduct similar workshops for participatory researchers on context-specific issues. The component of undertaking field visits, transect walks, and FGDs, led by the partner organization, JCRT, which has been actively working in the area, helped the student-researchers to gain more insights into the CBPR process and the value of the insider perspectives from the insider community researchers from JCRT [62,63]. Most significantly, it taught the researchers the process and skills of bringing together key stakeholders (that is, the people impacted by the issues), including governance representatives, non-profit personnel, research experts and scholars, and people of similar fields.…”