We Have Something to Say: Youth Participatory Action Research as a Promising Practice to Address Problems of Practice in Rural Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight a critical approach for practice, youth participatory action research, that can be used to invite rural youth to collaborate with school administrators, educators, and community leaders to identify and examine challenges, while building upon the strengths of a school and community to address challenges. Our youth participatory action research project was a collaboration between adult researchers and five students from a rural high school to examine and address postsecondary education access challenges. The adult and student researchers developed and implemented two evidence-based products: (a) a conference and (b) a resource corner in the school library. Student co-researchers demonstrated an increased commitment to the project, development of postsecondary education knowledge, and development as leaders during the project. Our project demonstrates evidence of youth participatory action research being an effective approach to address problems of practice in rural education.

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

“…The project this group will create will try to respond to the problem they identified (see Table 4, Group F). Here, the use of YPAR allowed not only a clear identification of a problem, which could be identified using other data techniques, but also enabled young people to be involved in this identification and, from there, in action for change through the materialisation of their project (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Means et al., 2021).…”

“…This allowed us to create space to focus on the central aim of this session, which was to identify aspects that they considered a priority for themselves and their contexts. This diagnosis allowed young people to explore their views of the surrounding community as experts and to respond to problems identified by designing projects for social change (Means et al, 2021). The following excerpts are an example of this: Mara: I can start; I wrote social isolation.…”

“…Allied with this transformative potential of YPAR in communities in which young people emerge as protagonists for social change, the literature has also referred to the advantages of this approach for youth development (Buckley‐Marudas & Soltis, 2020; Ozer, 2017). YPAR enhances the development not only of individual autonomy but also of a sense of identity and community (Checkoway & Richards‐Schuster, 2003; Ozer, 2017), particularly in terms of increased awareness of inequalities and social issues (Means et al., 2021). This can lead to greater youth engagement in social situations that surround them (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Cook et al., 2019; Malcolm et al., 2020) and can increase their involvement and capacity to create social change (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Malcolm et al., 2020) and to actively participate in democratic life (Buckley‐Marudas & Soltis, 2020; Checkoway & Richards‐Schuster, 2003).…”

Rural cultural wealth: dismantling deficit ideologies of rurality

“…In so doing, rural students with less college knowledge are directly exposed to post-secondary settings and provided access to information to help them make informed choices about their future, whether they opt for higher education, the military or immediate career immersion. Means et al (2021) demonstrated that rural SUCCs are an effective approach to address problems of practice in rural education by demonstrating the advantages of involving rural youth in participatory action research projects with school administrators, educators and community leaders to identify and examine district challenges. The researchers found that engaging rural youth in this capacity increased students' post-secondary education knowledge and their development as future rural leaders.…”

“…Means et al (2021) demonstrated that rural SUCCs are an effective approach to address problems of practice in rural education by demonstrating the advantages of involving rural youth in participatory action research projects with school administrators, educators and community leaders to identify and examine district challenges. The researchers found that engaging rural youth in this capacity increased students’ post-secondary education knowledge and their development as future rural leaders.…”