Claiming power by producing knowledge: the empowering potential of PAR in the classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of empowerment, reframing it in critical terms and in a precise and useful way. I approach this exploration through two participatory action research studies. Why are our teachers racist? took place over an 18-month period from 2012 to 2014 at a mid-sized high school in a rural dairy town in Idaho with 52 Latino/a students and their white teacher. Who can do research? was conducted in the fall of 2013 with a group of 60 pre-service teachers at a large university in the Midwest of the United States. Through the application of lessons learned from these two studies, I frame critical empowerment as a process whereby historically marginalized and oppressed individuals and groups can potentially lay claim to power as they/we engage in participatory approaches to knowledge production, thereby gaining control over processes by which we as a society determine what is useful and valuable knowledge.

Keywords:

• Participatory action research
• empowerment
• education policy

Notes

1. The name of this town, and all names and locations throughout this manuscript are pseudonyms used to protect the anonymity and confidentiality of study participants and co-researchers.

2. Spanish Speakers Serving is the pseudonym for the group run by Mrs. James at this high school and with which all of the students in the research collective are involved. Over the past decade, Spanish Speakers Serving, a nonprofit organization, headquartered in Utah but operating throughout the western United States, has worked to empower Latino/a youth by providing cultural, service, and leadership opportunities in a way that will allow these students increased access to higher education. More details about this project can be found at www.researchforempowerment.com.

3. This is a pseudonym, chosen by the participant.

4. This is a pseudonym chosen by Mrs. James to protect the anonymity of research collective participants as well as others implicated in this project.

5. This activity was inspired by the Public Science Project, housed at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and their work that redefines the concept of ‘researcher.’ See www.publicscienceproject.org.

6. The assignment was graded as pass/fail: if the students completed the main substantive reflection and three comments on peer reflections they passed and received full points for the assignment. If any of these portions were missing, I deducted points according to how many portions were not submitted. Each portion was worth 25% of the assignment grade. I did not grade on what was actually said in the reflections, and encouraged them to write about what they wished they had learned, or what they would want future classes to do or learn in subsequent semesters. So, while there were definite power relations at work here, I tried to make sure the students felt as free as possible to express what they wanted to and what was important to them through this assignment.