The emancipatory potential of transformative mixed methods designs: informing youth participatory action research and restorative practices within a district-wide school transformation project

Youth Participatory Action Research as School Counseling Praxis: A Scoping Review

“…Results from our abstract review analysis indicated that the 22 articles included both conceptual and empirical approaches and utilized a variety of methodologies. The conceptual articles ( n = 8) made a range of arguments for the use of YPAR in schooling: an approach that positions youth as leaders in actualizing systemic change (Cook & Kruger-Henny, 2017), a means to promote college and career readiness (Cook et al, 2019), a hip hop or photovoice group process that supports Black and Latinx youth’s social/emotional development (Levy et al, 2018; Smith et al, 2012; Williams et al, 2020), an antiracist method to promote social/emotional learning across a multitiered system of supports (Edirmanasinghe et al, 2022), an approach to restorative practices (Garnett et al, 2019), and a research method (Brion-Meisels & Alter, 2018). The empirical articles consisted of qualitative ( n = 7), quantitative ( n = 2), and mixed methods ( n = 1) evaluations of the impact of YPAR processes on youth.…”

“…Regardless of the physical school space (classrooms, counseling offices, school-wide, etc. ), two articles conceptualized YPAR as a transformational methodology that allows youth to be mixed-methods researchers poised to instill changes in their community (Garnett et al, 2019), while also being a mechanism for school counselors to evaluate the effectiveness of their group counseling interventions (Smith et al, 2010). Last, each article evaluated in this study highlighted how the products youth create while engaging in YPAR function as an advocacy tool and center their voices in explaining social phenomena and fostering critical consciousness (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Chou et al, 2015; Gonell et al, 2021).…”

Expanding the Transformative Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design Archetype in a Cross-Cultural Context: The Polemics of African Refugee Livelihoods in Places of Resettlement

“…It calls for transforming all stages of the research process, including problem identification, design, data collection, sampling, analysis, interpretation, dissemination, and action (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018; Mertens, 2003). Transformative mixed method designs mandate active collaboration with marginalized communities to critically examine diverse historical and social perspectives (Garnett et al, 2019). A major aim is to improve lives by generating solutions, with research participants mobilized at the community level in ways that engender ripple effects in the larger society (Mertens, 2009).…”