Facilitating youth participatory action research (YPAR): A scoping review of relational practice in U.S. Youth development & out-of-school time projects

What can I do for my community? Contributing to the promotion of civic engagement through participatory methodologies: The case of young people from border regions of mainland Portugal

“…Participatory methodologies allow young people to become agents of social change by participating in research, identifying problems and seeking to act within their communities (Anyon et al., 2018; Malorni et al., 2022). The following table gives a more detailed account of the participatory process, structured by the researchers, of building projects for young people's communities (Table 3).…”

“…As an approach to research that seeks the participation of those involved, participatory methodologies aim to redistribute power within relationships in the practice of research and the location and production of knowledge (Brown, 2021; Smithson & Jones, 2021). Participatory methodologies are a type of research involving participants in identifying and solving a problem, with an epistemological positioning that perceives them as experts in their lives and communities and able to produce knowledge (Malorni et al., 2022).…”

“…Despite this plurality, it is unanimous that when using participatory methodologies, young people's participation must be democratic and avoid the dominance of adult‐centric analytical models (Brion‐Meisels & Alter, 2018; Teixeira et al., 2021). This presupposes robust epistemological vigilance to ensure that participation is carried out fairly and following the design of these methodologies (Malorni et al., 2022).…”

Doing and undoing gendered racism with racialized girls: A school‐based youth participatory action research study

“…Participatory action research (PAR), which is rooted in the work of critical activist‐scholars such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Paolo Freire, generally sees research as a tool for democratizing knowledge, addressing social injustice and fostering community organizing (Malorni et al., 2022). When PAR is used with youth, an inherently (and unevenly) marginalized group (Graham & Fitzgerald, 2010), it becomes yPAR—a form of research whose ‘multifaceted goals […]both entice and challenge social justice educators’ (Rubin et al., 2017, p. 175).…”

Engaging youth as leaders and partners can improve substance use prevention: a call to action to support youth engagement practice and research

“…In one study, adults significantly increased their confidence to execute youth-engaged activities in systemic approaches to community social action after participating in a youth engagement training course [ 26 ]. In order to increase the capacity of the substance use prevention workforce, we believe that the following three competencies, based in youth worker professionalization and practices [ 27 ], are foundational for youth engagement training: Understand adolescent development across key domains (e.g., physical, emotional, social, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, civic, identity) and the core elements of youth-adult partnerships (authentic decision making, natural mentors, reciprocal activity, community connectedness) [ 13 ]; and Apply this understanding of adolescent development and youth-adult partnerships to the design of youth/adult meetings, materials, and programs that serve young people; and Implement key relational practices (e.g., support youth to make decisions, engage in reciprocal communication, work jointly, share power) that enable authentic collaboration between youth and adults [ 7 , 13 , 28 ]. …”