|
Re-Imagining Education Research: Promoting Community Agency to Seek Change
We at Research for Action are committed to becoming a community-engaged research institution, with the goal of having our work be grounded in principles of community empowerment, collaboration, and social change within education. Today we're pleased to release our "Top 5 Insights" report, along with an audio-doc, that chronicles this transformative journey, declares our intentions, and challenges the education research community to consider adopting this strategy.
Why Are We Doing This?
For 30 years, RFA has delivered ground-breaking education research that sheds light on the experiences of learners, educators, and school and district leaders. In those three decades, we've learned that our work yielded more action when it focused on elevating the voices of those who live the very experiences we study rather than standing as a siloed voice. By engaging with and elevating the voices of those most affected, we intend to innovate education research, bring important nuance to education policy debates, and arm communities with the knowledge to fuel their work.
Last year, on a mission to bridge the gap between traditional research methods and the perspectives and needs of students, families, and teachers, we launched the Community Research Partnership. With generous support from the Barra Foundation, this partnership began the shifts in the ways we conduct research with community as co-designers, co-equal participants, and co-disseminators of the work. You can see the emergent work within our Allegheny County Education Research Project and our Teach-In, as examples. With school communities as active participants in the process of discovery, these communities gain power to use research to demand change.
We are, in effect, re-imagining who we are and how we do our work. If we're going to see the systems change that our research findings say is necessary, we can't do what we've always done. We can't look for answers in the same way. We can't engage in relationships with institutions in the same way—everything about our approach to inquiry had to be examined.
This transformation will take time. But already, we're learning invaluable lessons that will guide our course. These insights, which are explained in detail in the new report, include:
-
Integration is Key: To create meaningful community-engaged research, community members must be involved in all phases of the research process, from design to reporting. Engaging community is not an add-on.
-
How Matters as Much as Who: It's not just who participates in research but how they participate that matters. To break down traditional hierarchies and value diverse knowledge, RFA established a Research Advisory Committee (RAC) composed of community leaders, families, and teachers.
-
Shared Definitions Have Consequence: RFA recognizes the importance of being on the same page with our co-constituents when we talk about what "community-engaged research" is and what it's supposed to do. This shared meaning guides our work and is an ongoing part of reinventing our identity. Defining terms and goals is a crucial step to avoid confusion and tension during research projects.
-
New Skills and Competencies Are Needed: Transitioning to community-engaged research requires new skills, such as flexibility, emotional safety, willingness to ask tough questions, building trust, and recognizing lived experience as expertise. RFA prioritizes internal learning and professional development to support its researchers and building the capacity of all involved to work together and negotiate difference.
-
Understanding Place and Positionality: For research to be potent, understanding the historical, cultural, racial, and political context is essential. RFA, initially Philadelphia-focused, is now exploring ways to engage with communities nationwide, emphasizing deep relationships with local partners.
You can also listen to our audio-doc, which brings these experiences to life through the voices of the people who are leading this work, including RFA Executive Director Kate Callahan and Saxon Nelson, our Director of Community Engagement. Tune in here as they describe the challenges and hurdles, along with the vision for the future.
| 
