This article explores the potential of action research by evaluating the research process, methodological nuances and experiential learnings of an action researcher involved in the action research conducted at Dudhera, a rural village in India on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). It documents the struggles and resistance of MGNREGA workers of Dudhera. They came together and decided to claim rights under MGNREGA when they felt powerless and starved - of both information and influence over the key decisions that affected their lives. The article critically examines the implementation failure of MGNREGA and the malpractices perpetuated by the Panchayat. It also portrays the community’s determination to bring change by claiming their right and challenging the status quo. The article also presents a reflexive analysis of action research, including the role of action researcher, community engagement and subjective transformation of both self and community in the action research process. The article advances knowledge about participatory action research and its potential for transformative change.

This paper presents successive phases of Taking Boys Seriously (TBS), a longitudinal participatory action research initiative bringing together diverse educational bodies and indigenous educators across a highly stratified education system in a contested society. The voices and everyday life and school experiences of adolescent boys are positioned firmly at the centre of a research methodology aimed at re-engaging, empowering, and learning from marginalised boys. We discuss how a collaborative and reflexive process co-produced with a committed steering group has been vital in pursuit of systemic change. New concepts of compounded educational disadvantage, relational education, and an educational ecosystem have been co-theorised and applied in practical ways to counter deficit narratives and support holistic approaches and new partnerships across educational settings in Northern Ireland. Strengths and limitations of our participatory approach are considered, particularly in relation to the role and participation of boys in the research process.

Bereavement services incorporating family-centered practices are emerging within hospital-based care but are often time-limited and lack personalization. This action research single case study explored one father’s experience of music therapy using amplified cardiopulmonary recordings (ACPR) during bereavement following his son’s death by suicide, to critique current norms and inspire transformative change in systems of care. As co-researchers, a bereaved father, his music therapist, and a music therapy researcher used iterative cycles to qualitatively analyze a series of dialogic reflections upon an 8-year experience of ACPR to construct two overarching themes: 1) continuity experienced as compassion, and 2) process of music therapy with ACPR as tool for resilience and positive growth. Aspects of continuity in the ACPR process, in relation with the music therapist, in journeying through grief, and in the heart and heartbeat were perceived as overwhelming compassion that fostered positive growth in the face of profound loss. We see our study as a first step in promoting culture change by exposing underlying practices, assumptions and policies within the context of hospital-based bereavement care and identifying an exceptional example of possibilities. Our findings add to the literature on action research for transformation by demonstrating that the process of relational knowledge co-creation can be perceived as part of the therapeutic journey.

Spiritual care is increasingly seen as a task of all health care professionals. This is challenging for chaplains working in health care, who hold spiritual care at the heart of their profession but don’t feel rooted in a strong professional identity. In this article we discuss a participatory action research that aimed at strengthening the professional identity of health care chaplains by forming collaborative learning communities of chaplains and general practice mental health. The focus is on the ‘boundary work’ and how participatory action research contributes to this. Relational professionalism, Dialogical Self Theory and Boundary Theory are combined to interpret the complex relational-dialogical processes of negotiating one’s identity within the relationships with diverse others: clients, mental health nurses and society. The result is a more articulated and at the same time flexible professional identity for healthcare chaplains. Participatory action research contributes to these boundary processes by stimulating reflection, explicating, eliciting or encouraging different voices and facilitating the dialogue between these professionals.

This article explores the development, structure, and continuous improvement model of an Action Research education doctorate program research methodology course sequence. The aim of the study is to articulate a rigorous Action Research methodology course sequence and the collaborative faculty process utilized to create and continuously improve upon the research curriculum. The doctoral program under study utilizes a qualitative-dominant Action Research methodology as its signature pedagogy, integrating cycles of research into coursework before students implement and evaluate their action steps. To ensure students receive a thorough understanding of Action Research methodology, the program requires a four-research course sequence. These courses have been designed with a scaffolded approach that progressively reinforces and extends Action Research methods in ways that promote change agency, inclusivity, and social justice. This research course sequence is designed to build a rigorous foundation for students to conduct high quality Action Research that impacts their professional practice and academic scholarship and leads to transformative learning experiences for students, faculty, organizations, and communities.

When did sociologist Orlando Fals-Borda name his method Participatory Action Research (PAR), and what were the epistemological implications of this shift from action research to PAR? To address these questions, this article critically examines Fals-Borda’s ‘participatory turn’ —his epistemological shift from orthodox Marxism to the participatory paradigm—, which squarely underpinned the origins of PAR yet has hitherto remained unexplored in the literature. The article focuses on Fals-Borda’s transition from participation “by” to participation “with” the people, which occurred during a period of intense self-criticism after years of radical activism. Drawing on exhaustive archival research, it examines the collaborative systematisation of his method alongside an emerging constellation of participatory research practices. Thereby, it highlights the centrality of collaboration to the development of his work and demonstrates that Fals-Borda’s embrace of the participatory paradigm stemmed from rejecting the centrality of historical materialism in favour of a model of research which supports and sustains the conditions for collective analysis and action through harnessing the creativity and wisdom of marginalized peoples. It concludes that for all the innovations in tools and techniques of action-oriented methods, the ontology of participation is what fundamentally differentiates PAR from other instrumental or top-down forms of people’s participation in research.

This article addresses the importance of action research to provide approaches to emphasizing and acknowledging artful aspects of professional practice in public sector organizations. The article introduces the philosophical works of Knud Ejler Løgstrup and Kari Martinsen as perspectives on artful aspects of professional practices and knowing. In order to concentrate on artful aspects of the research process, empirical material from two arts-involving workshops with teachers are presented as the concrete methodological expression of the participatory ideas of action research. The article addresses embodied dimensions of practice, the role of sensory awareness in professional knowing in organizations, which are some of the main preconditions for contributing to creative, social change, and scholarly weight. Thus, the article contributes with ways to regard action research as artful, participatory processes and practices that enable creation of organizational and public knowledge on the artful aspects of professional practice.

Support groups are one possibility to empower informal carers and accordingly have spread across many countries because of their informal, inexpensive nature and because of their effectiveness. This paper aims to reflect on the viewpoints and experiences of the lessons learned from the participatory action research (PAR) conducted from 2016 to 2019. During PAR, several support groups in different regions of Estonia were launched to empower the informal caregivers. In the study, the stakeholders and researchers participated as partners and developed new knowledge and 17 support groups were launched in different regions of Estonia. In conclusion, our experiences highlighted the stakeholders’ collaboration which resulted in creating the knowledge needed to launch support groups. Based on our experience, we recommend launching support groups in countries where they do not exist yet, and to apply participatory action research.

Indigenous women face many barriers to maternal care during pregnancy in Canada. A participatory study was conducted in two First Nations Communities in Nova Scotia, Canada to gain new knowledge about Mi’kmaw women’s experiences of living with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Relational ethics helped guide this journey. In this paper we describe how Indigenous and Western approaches were used to understand Mi’kmaw women’s experiences with GDM. It was important to us that the research methodology facilitated building relationship and trust. This led to an openness and willingness of the women to express their concerns and offer ways to address GDM in their communities. The challenges of blending Indigenous approaches with Western research are also discussed in the paper. The foundational principles that were used during this research included: 1) Staying true to my word; 2) Mutual Trust; 3) Mutual Respect; 4) Being Flexible; 5) Being Non judgemental; 6) Working in partnership; 7) Taking time to explain; 8) Promoting autonomy; and 9) Genuine connectiveness. The findings revealed that the research assisted the Mi’kmaw women in understanding their experiences in new ways and helped to build capacity so that they could take action to improve their health, while sustaining their Mi’kmaw culture.