Using Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR)As a core function of a university, community engagement needs to be embraced by all academics in higher education, enabling research for, and as, social change. This article considers participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) as an approach for community-university partnerships to foster and maximise the rewards of university engagement with communities for collaborative research and problem-solving. It has the following dual focus: (1) to explain how PALAR can provide opportunities for universities to work collaboratively with community members; and(2) to demonstrate what can be achieved using PALAR.The three R's of PALAR -relationships, reflection and recognition -are the key elements that promote a truly participatory approach to knowledge creation and practical social and educational improvements. In addition, PALAR is a useful method for disrupting traditional perspectives of communityuniversity relationships and interaction.PALAR has the potential to: (1) promote mutual learning and development; (2) foster the cascading of learning and knowledge to others in the community; and (3) co-create knowledge that is relevant, contextualised and useful, both for meeting community needs and producing research output as required of universities.Two case studies (one South African and one Australian) will provide evidence of the usefulness of PALAR in developing the capacity among participants (academic researchers, postgraduate students and community members) to collaborate for meaningful educational and social change. To provide a context for these case studies, the following section briefly explains the concepts of action learning (AL), action research (AR), participatory action research (PAR), and participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) (based on Zuber-Skerritt 2011). A model is presented for the design of community development programs through university-community partnerships using PALAR.
This article reports on a study that investigated the education pathways of 464 young people. We were interested in the effects of New Zealand citizenship and Pacific ethnicity on pathways so compared findings for three groups residing in Australia: Pacific youth with New Zealand citizenship, Pacific youth with Australian citizenship, and non-Pacific youth with Australian citizenship. Findings showed that the first group was significantly less likely than others to have gained a university qualification. Pacific youth, regardless of citizenship, were more likely than non-Pacific peers to have a vocational qualification rather than a university qualification. No evidence suggests this resulted from lack of motivation or lack of ability. However, two interrelated factors explained outcomes for the Pacific cohort: likelihood of low socioeconomic status and first-in-family to attend university. We propose that Pacific communities' collectivist orientation may also restrict opportunities for Pacific youth seeking higher education pathways. We therefore argue that until Pacific young people are better represented in higher education cohorts, they should be a targeted equity group, and that the Australian government's decision to exclude many of these young people from higher education loans is an anomaly in the context of its 'widening participation' agenda for Australian higher education.
Teachers working in culturally diverse classrooms: implications for the development of professional standards and for teacher education.
PurposeThis paper aims to: extend the concept of “The learning organization” to “The learning community”, especially disadvantaged communities; demonstrate how leaders in a migrant community can achieve positive change at the personal, professional, team and community learning levels through participatory action learning and action research (PALAR); and identify the key characteristics of a sustainable learning community.Design/methodology/approachThe paper combines an innovative and creative methodology of PALAR and a new learning system designed by the Global University for Lifelong Learning (GULL).FindingsA lack of cultural understanding on the part of government agencies contributes to a migrant community's socio‐economic disadvantage, e.g. high unemployment and crime rates, underachievement in education, exclusion from higher education. The Samoan community is a disadvantaged migrant group in Australia who were helped to help themselves to achieve positive change and quality learning in partnership with university researchers. The use of an enabling framework designed by GULL, mainly for developing countries, also proved to be an effective system for achieving personal and organizational learning in a disadvantaged community in Australia.Practical implicationsThe findings represented in the conceptual models enhance understanding of the key principles and processes involved in an organizational learning project for sustainable development of a learning community.Originality/valueThis is one of the first papers to evaluate and track the learning outcomes in a community applying the GULL system that is used successfully in about 40 developing countries, but has not yet been sufficiently researched and documented in a developed country.
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