Case study

To equip individuals with the conceptual and practical tools to design and carry out PAR in their own organisations, projects, or with partner organisations.

Interest in participatory action research (PAR) has surged recently in the international development sector, as it challenges the power dynamic inherent in traditional research approaches. This is why it is key that professionals and practitioners in the sector adopt the latest thinking and address any skills gap within their organisations.

PAR is a way of engaging and working with people who are living in poverty or other forms of marginalisation, as agents of change. It is of particular importance to development practitioners and researchers today, as it can ensure their interventions are relevant, appropriate and inclusive. It is increasingly relevant for NGOs working in the Global South or North, as they shift towards a more people-centred way of developing, delivering and assessing their projects and programmes of work.

This course is interactive, inclusive, participatory and applied. Participants learn about a range of PAR methods that enable them to bring fresh perspectives back to their workplace.

Prior to the course, participants are asked to think of a critical question that they are dealing with in their work, or relating to their organisation’s practice. Over the week they explore this question and, with the support of the facilitators, identify a PAR process appropriate for addressing their question.

The course comprises a series of interactive sessions, blending some theoretical and conceptual learning with practical sessions which enable experiential learning and sharing. These interactive sessions allow participants to knowledge share with other international development professionals, which provides space for the generation of new ideas and solutions.

As an additional benefit, course directors provide a post-course webinar to assist participants in embedding their learning within their organisation.

Sessions cover:

• Introduction to the theories and key approaches of PAR; analysis of the key concepts; introduction to ethics and care in PAR.
• Discussions of case studies using action research in international development and in the UK context.
• Participants present and discuss their own question in small groups, followed by training and practical sessions for designing their own action research process, with the support of peers and facilitators.
• Further practical training in managing the participatory research process including facilitation, recording, analysis, planning and monitoring.

Course leads:

• Danny Burns, Professorial Research Fellow
• Jo Howard, Research Fellow and Cluster Leader

Others who have delivered sessions:

• Jody Aked
• Pauline Oosterhoff, Research Fellow
• Marina Apgar, Research Fellow
• Jackie Shaw, Research Fellow
• Patta Scott-Villers, Research Fellow
• Robert Chambers, Research Associate

After completing this course, participants were able to:

• design a participatory research programme appropriate to their context
• understand how to use appropriate PAR methods within their research or organisation
• consider ethical, political and practical challenges
• have clarity about further training and resources needed within their team or organisation
• understand how PAR processes can improve their own and their organisational practice, taking back new practical knowledge and participatory methods to innovate in their organisation.

Participants have gone on to develop their own PAR projects, as well as establish expanded training and support for PAR within their organisations.