2nd Event wrap-up: "History Informing the Present"

                                  CPARN 2nd Event: History Informing the Present

Our 2nd meet plan schedule consisted of
-30minute introduction to PAR by Davydd Greenwood
-40 minute history of CPARN by previous members
-20 minutes to discuss the visit  of prolific Australian PAR practitioner Ernie Stern (May 2nd 4:30-6:00pm 211 Sibley)

From our first meeting it was ascertained that a workshop type meeting with previous CPARN members, and Professor Davydd Greenwood, would be helpful and ground what PAR is and what it has looked like at Cornell.Beacuse navigating Cornell trasnportation/parking can be difficult we decided late-afternoon meetings (4:30 or 5pm) would be best in the future for creating accessibility.

Professor Davydd Greenwood currently teaches in the Anthropology dept and offers a class on the Anthropology of the University- or what exactly is at stake for the privatization and corporatizion of public education. In addition, Greenwood also teaches an Introduction to Participatory Action Research class where the idea of reviving the CPAR network was explored as a final project by classmates Courtney, Christina, and Jen. Greenwood has published numerous books and articles, with one of the most notable books being his co-authored text Introduction to Action Research.




We asked Davvyd to address 3 questions:
Q1. To talk about what Participatory Action meant to him
Q2. To explore what possibilities PAR allows for inside and outside the university
Q3. To explain when PAR is an appropriate methodology to use.



 Davydd described PAR as a form of research in which the relevant stakeholders set the problem for study and define what is research, how the research will be interpreted, and what is to be done with the results. Then the research group comes back together to determine if the problem was adequately solved. If not, the process starts all over again with a different set of protocols and actions. This is why Participatory Action Research is understood to be a cyclical process, also visualized in the diagrams below.I pulled some images really quick off the Internet for diagrams of what the Action Research process looks like that may be helpful for some folks:

 

Yet the model above still looks too linear for conceptualizing a radically collaborative project and effort.

There! This model is much better at illustrating the circular nature of collaboration in action and reflection AT ALL STAGES of the research project.

I also see this model to the left as encapsulating the lengthy time and energy commitment to conducting AR.








Next, Davydd emphasized that the cyclical process of AR is what makes it non-exploitative by design: there are no bystanders, and everyone involved retains the intellectual property they are responsible for. This process makes it risky for everyone involved as they are accountable for their actions in ways that traditional research models obscure and deny, but this risk creates engaged scholarship and accurate results. Therefore, the commitment and accountability inherent in the design of this research process led Davydd to argue that PAR is democracy in action.

Q2- Davyd briefly touched on the implications for PAR inside the university. Davydd argues that public education is being turned into vocational training which threatens projects that are critical or reflexive of their own processes (ie AR is considered too political and not objective in positivist frameworks). Thus, the need for PAR inside the University is critical.
Outside the university, PAR looks like forms of community organizing where problems are articulated and identified by the stakeholders. Tapping into and epistemically privileging stakeholders' knowledge and experience allows for a drastically different research process than from an outside researcher.

Q3- Davydd clarified that PAR is not a research methodology but should be thought of as A STRATEGY- PAR is not pinned down to specific research methods (an assertion I believe we could spend more time teasing out if we wanted). Therefore, Davydd argued PAR is always an appropriate strategy to use: It's a way of orchestrating research strategies of people's intimate experiences you as a professional researcher will never have access to.

C.P.A.R.N. HISTORY
This discussion then led into what the aims, purposes, and accomplishments of Cornell's Participatory Action Research Network were. Davydd emphasized CPARN was initiated by the students, not the faculty. Davydd also said that the faculty can't sustain such a network and it is really up to the students to organize themselves and organize a community that withstands generations of students. It was important that the network was started by students because it could address student's needs in acquiring moral and financial support for their research projects, but also that students could commit more of their time and energy to sustaining a community than over-burdened professors. Previous members of CPARN were able to elaborate that the network worked best when Faculty was given small parts (arranging one talk or one presentation for instance) that encouraged flexible commitment & participation. Yet it was also stressed that faculty and practitioners in the community would love to be contacted and involved and have this group reach out to them. Davydd also said the Public Service Center has also been very supprtive of CPARN and should be considered a future resource.
 Food for thought: what can CPARN do to democratize knowledge production, not just learn from this method, but really engage the community?

So what was CPARN?
CPARN was the establishment of a secure place and community to find support from others curious about and engaged in Action Research. Because students and faculty are separated in silos of knowledge it is hard to know who else is out there that has encountered similar setback or roadblocks. A community for doing this type of research that challenges dominant paradigms of knowledge production is critical (especially when alone in uncooperative/non-supportive/antagonistic departments!)

What did CPARN do?

• became an official student group (undergrad & grad) to obtain funding that essentially served as a CPARN budget. This budget, coupled with collective fundraising, allowed the pooling of money and resources to allow ALL of the CPARN members to travel to South Africa for aAR conference
• set up consulting meetings where audience of peers could review and critique work presented
• weekly meeting with revolving duties, food, speakers, and events (official group status allowed $$ to bring in outside speakers!)
• set up and utilized a CPARN listserv
• accessible web presence
• established a PARchive linking practiconers to past projects, and other practiconers & faculty elsewhere
• provided a crew of people to come out and support one another at defenses
• CPARN designed a course as an Action Research Project that accomplished the design of a syllabus in 2 meetings. This course was offered as an independt study to bypass insitutional hurdles in offering new courses.

Ernie Stringer- is an Australian PAR Practitioner that has published over 10 books and sits on the editorial board of the AR Journal. His work currently involves aboriginal schools in the outback, and will be coming for a longer visit to Cornell in a year or so (He will be a great resource to work with when he is here). His first preliminary visit will be on Monday May 2nd from 4:30pm-6pm at 211 Sibley.



Further areas to plan and discuss:

Shortterm:

• -when will our next meet be? what will this meeting address?
• -brainstorm on Ernie Stern's visit MONDAY MAY 2nd 4:30-6:00pm in 211 Sibley; invite faculty: New Anthro professor Sophia?
• -add peers, friends, colleagues, thesis/dissertation titles to current/past PAR projects in the comments sections
• -create 2 email lists: 1 spam for grads on housekeeping issues and another for more general invites and important community announcements

Longterm: --the establishment of a PAR minor
               --acquire undergraduate group funding
               -- acquire graduate group funding