The transformative potential of action learning in community-based research for social action

ABSTRACT

Action learning within community-based research is a powerful capacitator of social action. Here, we consider three aspects of action learning that are vital to enable this: (i) developing self-directed and lifelong action learning; (ii) generating local and theoretical knowledge through action research and reflection on learning; and (iii) identifying the key principles and processes of action learning as an integrated concept within the participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) paradigm. We argue that action learning has to be developed in a systematic, educational way to enable people to take responsibility for improving their life circumstances. Examples from university partnerships with communities in South Africa and Australia demonstrate how action learning, within a PALAR process, can inspire and enable individuals and whole communities to learn and develop skills, attitudes, values, and understandings to engage in social action most effective for their particular needs and contexts. In this way, people become self-directed learners, creators of knowledge and activists able to challenge and disrupt dominant power relationships and traditional ways of conducting research. These case examples illustrate how action learning, as part of a PALAR process, enables the university to partner with community for social action towards a more just society.

KEYWORDS:

• Action learning
• action research
• community engagement
• higher education
• lifelong learning
• social change

Acknowledgements

Parts of this article were enabled by research funded by the National Research Foundation in South Africa. Any opinion, findings or conclusions are those of the authors and the NRF cannot be held liable thereto.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on conributors

Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt is an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, Australia; Pro Chancellor, Global University for Lifelong Learning (GULL), USA; Honorary Research Fellow at North-West University, South Africa; and Honorary Citizen of the University of Innsbruck (Austria). She has four doctoral degrees: 2 PhDs in Literature and Higher Education (Griffith and Deakin Universities, Australia), a DLitt in Management Education (IMCA, UK), and a DHon in Professional Studies (GULL, USA). The highlights of her career were (1) her Festschrift edited by Kearney and Todhunter (2015) and (2) the award in 2018 of AO (Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia), in recognition for: distinguished service to tertiary education in the field of action research and learning as an academic, author and mentor, and to professional bodies.

Lesley Wood, DEd, is a Research Professor and Director of the entity Community-based Educational Research in the Faculty of Education at North-West University. She is an NRF-rated researcher whose interests lie in researching participatory ways to facilitate holistic wellness within various educational contexts. She has received international recognition for her work in action research, having been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2014 by Moravian College, Pennsylvania, USA. She has published widely and has received several internationally funded grants for her projects.

Judith Kearney, PhD, is an Associate Professor at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, where she co-ordinates community partnerships and engagement activities within the School of Education and Professional Studies. In this role, Judith works with academics, industry groups, community organizations and government agencies to progress authentic partnerships that promote engaged scholarship. Judith’s collaborative work with communities addresses complex social issues in the public domain. Based at Logan campus, she continues to work closely with Pacific migrant communities to advance educational and employment opportunities for this group. Judith’s preferred methodology is participatory action learning and action research (PALAR), an approach that is participatory and encourages sustainable social change in communities.

ORCID

Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0816-9308

Notes

1 In Queensland, kindergarten (or kindy) is a part-time educational program provided in the year before children start school. Children attending kindergarten are at least 4 years old by 30 June in the year they are enrolled.

2 This ceremony is an important custom for Samoan people involving oratory, preparation of ‘ava and the formal drinking of ‘ava.