Advancing Collective Power for Social Change through Community-Driven Research

Community participatory approaches are becoming increasingly popular, however, many participatory projects still reflect the surface-level approach of involving participants in one portion of the research process as informants without an intentional stake in the research, design, or implementation processes. The ways in which participatory research is executed such that community action is threaded throughout the research process toward application are significantly underdeveloped as it pertains to participatory research methodologies. This lack of balanced partnership may leave community members feeling disconnected from the work and thus less likely to share with openness and depth. Moreover, much of the scholarship focused on participatory research highlights community contributions to developing research knowledge, inadequately addressing how communities are leveraged in research-practice partnerships.This workshop offers a practical paradigm shift to researchers interested in leveraging the leadership and authentic engagement of community members to create action-oriented insights that are applicable for impact beyond communicating research implications.

This session uses applied epistemology, emphasizing the diverse funds of knowledge Black parents in particular have employed when co-designing education solutions. We name the types of lived expertise parents bring to the co-design process, positioning them as essential partners in designing affirming and effective educational environments. Additionally, the community engagement approach is informed by Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation which we use to examine and shift power dynamics. At the beginning of the workshop, participants will use this framework to reflect on their existing community engagement approaches, beliefs, and growth edges.

In this workshop, scholars with nearly a decade of experience combining community facilitation, adult learning principles, and applied research expertise will share their 8-step process for training and collaborating with parents as co-designers of research and tools that have been used by schools and other community partners to improve learning environments. We will share our community wisdom-embedded process for the creation of trusted education tools for schools and families that has resulted in solutions where community members experienced a strong sense of connection, co-ownership, and power. We will demonstrate the application of this process by sharing the story of co-designing one of our hallmark tools with parent leaders. Participants will brainstorm their own plan for community co-design and power-building using the community wisdom-embedded process.

The specific format of the workshop will be guided by the Global Learning Partners’ 4 A’s framework for adult learning. Participants will be anchored in their prior knowledge and experience with participatory research, add new knowledge and learnings from the community-driven research & design process, apply learnings to their own context in real time, and take away actionable ways to implement their ideas after the workshop.

This workshop is embedded in the premise that communities hold the knowledge and solutions. As Social Work researchers, and practitioners, we have a duty to engage in research methods that increase power-sharing and the autonomy of communities to build sustainable solutions. Participants will most benefit from this workshop as it relates to guidance for designing and implementing community-engaged research projects and applying research findings to community practice.