Participatory Action Research
Transformative Praxis: Malawi is committed to action research. The physical campus space in Chilanga, Malawi is representative of the combined efforts of TPM members to build sustainable projects to further the health, education and development of the community. The campus provides a space for projects to be developed without fear of failure. Ultimately, the goal is to engage collaboratively with local community, supported with resources and expertise as needed, to build a model that can support both the running of the TPM Campus and Ahmad Jahan School.
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It's important to note that none of the projects on this website have been completed. Instead, they will go on indefinitely, due to our commitment to the principle of PAR (Participatory Action Research). Through this, the community engages in a cycle of planning, acting, observing and reflecting. No project, no matter the outcome, is considered a failure, but is rather a stepping-stone towards sustainability and an opportunity to learn and grow. This space is important for the people in Malawi, who are more hesitant of risk taking in these areas, as failure could lead to detrimental consequences.
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Transformative Praxis
When Transformative Praxis is used in our modern context of education, nursing, youth work, and other human-centered services, it is generally based on how Paulo Freire understood Praxis in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” (Freire, 1972). Freire (1972, p. 52) described Praxis as “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it”. He argued that it was not enough for people to study the world, they also had a responsibility to act to create a more just world.
Transformative Praxis covers a wide range of pursuits for social change through reflexive research and practice. It involves the engagement of researchers and practitioners in the realization of the transformative potential of their research and practice, and the commitment to engage in a process that will lead to a contribution to a socially just, empowering, and inclusive system and practice. Change agents who engage in transformative research do so with the goal to build on all members’ cultural backgrounds, strengths, and needs.
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Transformative Praxis rejects the notion of objective, neutral research and practice, and instead recognizes the importance of considering the social, political and economic implications of practice and research. It challenges the separation of theory and practice, and instead approaches them as cycles of action, reflection, and theory building.
For researchers, praxis emphasizes the important of using research and theory to create change, and reflecting on whose interests are served by current theory and research. For practitioners, praxis emphasizes the importance of critically reflecting on practice, ensuring that practice is grounded in theory and ensuring that practice contributes to how we understand theory and the context in which we operate. |
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The word transformative implies change, and the word praxis is the process by which a theory is embodied. The name suggests two of the key elements necessary for this machine to work – theory and action. To make use of it, it needs to be put into action. The third element necessary for this machine is reflection. This allows for development within both the researcher and practitioners through critical reflection on both their own, and others, values, beliefs, and practices. These reflections can be retrospective (reflecting on actions that have taken place in the past, to create new possibilities), ongoing (to immediately revise and improve our current activities), and anticipatory (allowing us to envision, and prepare for, possible opportunities and challenges).
Our Three research areas
At TPM, Education is the foundation on which the heart of this project began. From Malawian teachers explaining their local schools to conversations about Freire and Fanon, each experience on the TPM campus is focused on learning from one another.
Since 2009, we have specifically devoted time to developing our professional practice. Teachers and pre-service teachers from the Global North engage in dialogue with colleagues from the Global South, both in academic course work and local classroom setting. We have explored ways of improving the curriculum we teach, both in the Global South and Global North, through a multitude of pedagogical strategies as we consider why we teach, how we teach, as well as what we teach in order to promote teaching and learning that fosters emancipation through critical thinking and creativity.
One of the major challenges we face is not repeating a top down Global North/South relationship that has repeatedly proven to be ineffective. We strive to balance what local community indicates are their needs, simultaneously recognizing and endorsing local agency, while depending on each other to find solutions. We remain vigilant to reveal what may simply be the illusion of solidarity, as we work to build authentic professional relationships. We have discovered that these habits are hard to break, but commitment to the project on a long-term basis has solidified real dialogue. With over 10 years of interactions under our belt and the construction of our primary school well underway, we head forward towards the next 10 years developing new ways of demonstrating professional solidarity.
One question presently at the forefront of these discussions is how does Education move beyond buzz-words, to living out what can and should be done to create a community of socially responsive, reflective, compassionate and critical life-long learners?
Since 2009, we have specifically devoted time to developing our professional practice. Teachers and pre-service teachers from the Global North engage in dialogue with colleagues from the Global South, both in academic course work and local classroom setting. We have explored ways of improving the curriculum we teach, both in the Global South and Global North, through a multitude of pedagogical strategies as we consider why we teach, how we teach, as well as what we teach in order to promote teaching and learning that fosters emancipation through critical thinking and creativity.
One of the major challenges we face is not repeating a top down Global North/South relationship that has repeatedly proven to be ineffective. We strive to balance what local community indicates are their needs, simultaneously recognizing and endorsing local agency, while depending on each other to find solutions. We remain vigilant to reveal what may simply be the illusion of solidarity, as we work to build authentic professional relationships. We have discovered that these habits are hard to break, but commitment to the project on a long-term basis has solidified real dialogue. With over 10 years of interactions under our belt and the construction of our primary school well underway, we head forward towards the next 10 years developing new ways of demonstrating professional solidarity.
One question presently at the forefront of these discussions is how does Education move beyond buzz-words, to living out what can and should be done to create a community of socially responsive, reflective, compassionate and critical life-long learners?
TPM is based on the belief that real change can only come about when people are empowered to be agents in their own lives. The goals of our health team is to have community volunteers empower themselves to become leaders in their community’s health and to move from approaches based on the unsustainable receipt of charity towards the generation and mobilization of resources from the community. Currently, there are three main areas we are focusing on: health education with the local volunteers, with a focus on empowerment; health promotion; and health interventions within the scope of their practice, with the concept of sustainability in mind.
Community development involves a process of social change. We are working cooperatively with the community health volunteers to determine community needs and addressing common issues affecting their health. Our goal is to establish mutual trust and foster meaningful relationships through health teaching and promotion.
In 2015 the community health volunteers identified four community health/wellness priorities: prevention and effective management of diarrhoea; prevention of malaria; prevention of HIV/AIDS; and prevention and effective management of respiratory complaints. In June 2018, we (nursing professors, nursing students from the Saskatchewan Collaborative Bachelor of Science program in Nursing, Canada, and a nurse practitioner from the UK) worked with the community health volunteers, providing health education on first aid and malaria. In addition, we initiated a meeting between the community health surveillance assistant (HSA) and community health volunteers. The HSA agreed to collaborate with the community health volunteers in procuring resources (from the hospital) for first aid training and other health education/ promotion activities. We hope to continue working with the community health volunteers, their local clinic, and other community partners.
Community development involves a process of social change. We are working cooperatively with the community health volunteers to determine community needs and addressing common issues affecting their health. Our goal is to establish mutual trust and foster meaningful relationships through health teaching and promotion.
In 2015 the community health volunteers identified four community health/wellness priorities: prevention and effective management of diarrhoea; prevention of malaria; prevention of HIV/AIDS; and prevention and effective management of respiratory complaints. In June 2018, we (nursing professors, nursing students from the Saskatchewan Collaborative Bachelor of Science program in Nursing, Canada, and a nurse practitioner from the UK) worked with the community health volunteers, providing health education on first aid and malaria. In addition, we initiated a meeting between the community health surveillance assistant (HSA) and community health volunteers. The HSA agreed to collaborate with the community health volunteers in procuring resources (from the hospital) for first aid training and other health education/ promotion activities. We hope to continue working with the community health volunteers, their local clinic, and other community partners.
One of the earliest conclusions we came to at TPM was that Health and Education were going to encounter great difficulties in self-funding. Moreover, we understood that the history of external Global North charities in the Global South indicated that Education and Health projects could not count on this to provide the resource security it required. To assure the community’s most vulnerable that their needs were being taken into consideration as a long-term goal, new modes of thinking and acting on local agency and best use of donations towards growing community-based agency were established through consultation.
Very early attempts to identify project ideas and fund entrepreneurial projects through interest free, micro bursaries turned out to disappoint the majority of TPM members as follow-through and accountability proved to be difficult to maintain. In response to this, our solution was to focus more on social entrepreneurship rather than individualistic entrepreneurship, agreeing that project outcomes as having community-oriented benefits in supporting Education and Health and, when applicable, profit sharing through members who were part of the projects would produce richer and longer lasting prospects.
Creating the TPM campus allowed the creation of a space where members could come together and utilize donations to eventually establish greater local agency. Projects take time to develop, with observation, action and reflection paying a core characteristic of how we succeed. Projects that benefit cooperative participants, also help their neighbours. As we move forward, a question present in our development discussions is how the community can use past development projects as assets in a collaborative, transparent and respectful manner to help our community while supporting educational and health initiatives that benefit us long term.
Very early attempts to identify project ideas and fund entrepreneurial projects through interest free, micro bursaries turned out to disappoint the majority of TPM members as follow-through and accountability proved to be difficult to maintain. In response to this, our solution was to focus more on social entrepreneurship rather than individualistic entrepreneurship, agreeing that project outcomes as having community-oriented benefits in supporting Education and Health and, when applicable, profit sharing through members who were part of the projects would produce richer and longer lasting prospects.
Creating the TPM campus allowed the creation of a space where members could come together and utilize donations to eventually establish greater local agency. Projects take time to develop, with observation, action and reflection paying a core characteristic of how we succeed. Projects that benefit cooperative participants, also help their neighbours. As we move forward, a question present in our development discussions is how the community can use past development projects as assets in a collaborative, transparent and respectful manner to help our community while supporting educational and health initiatives that benefit us long term.
