AARE Theory Workshop: Developing community-based, participatory and co-designed approaches to educational research

When: Friday September 20th, 5pm - 6.30pm & Saturday September 21st, 9.30am - 3.30pm

Where: University of South Australia, City West Campus, Room GK2-12

Workshop Overview

The 2024 AARE Theory Workshop will collaboratively build skills and expertise in participatory research approaches. Researchers a range of paradigms have increasingly recognised the importance of integrating the perspectives and interests of participants and others who hold knowledge, giving rise to methodological and theoretical innovations. On one hand, the expertise and knowledge generated by practitioners are being drawn upon through notions of co-design and partnership. On the other, the voice and interests of wider communities and youth constituencies are shaping how researchers understand their own roles. The participatory turn responds to ethical demands for research to provide benefits to those who are being researched, and to ensure that procedures are respectful. The workshop will support participants to integrate participatory approaches in their own research and to reflect on the future directions for such work under changing social and institutional conditions. Presenters include both academic leaders and leaders bringing diverse professional, community and youth perspectives.

Two Alison Lee ‘Theory in Educational Research’ scholarships will be offered (1 Indigenous HDR or ECR, 1 open HDR or ECR).

Cost:

AARE Members: $30.00

Non-members: ECR/HDR: $100.00

Other non-members: $200.00

Host University ECR/HDR: Free

Friday September 20, 5pm - 6.30pm, UniSA City West room GK2-12

Participatory research then and now panel discussion:

• Professor Barbara Comber (UniSA)
• Ms. Helen Grant (Gilles Street Primary School)
• Dr. Sam Schulz (University of Adelaide)
• Associate Professor Lisa O’keeffe (University of South Australia)
• Dr. Sarah McDonald (University of South Australia)

This round-table discussion will examine what community-based, participatory and co-designed approaches to educational research have contributed to the field over the past thirty years, as well as discussing what is needed in the future to strengthen and further develop such collaborations. As an open forum, there will be opportunities to share experiences, ideas and feedback amongst participants.

6.30pm - 8.30pm Workshop Dinner: participants cover the cost of dinner themselves

Saturday September 21, UniSA City West room GK2-12

9.30am Morning tea and welcome

10am - 12pm Session 1: Youth participatory research: theories, methods, challenges and possibilities for anti-oppressive approaches

• Ms. Habibat Ogunbanwo
• Ms. Mwangaza Milunga (African Diaspora Youth Belonging ARC participant-researchers)
• Ms. Shaza Hamed
• Dr. Melanie Baak (UniSA)
• Dr. Sophie Rudolph (University of Melbourne)

This workshop examines models of collaborative research involving young people, including as peer researchers.  Examples are drawn from projects focused on addressing issues of youth participation and exclusion in schools. The workshop will begin with a conversation between the lead researchers two projects employing innovative participatory methodologies, exploring of the theoretical underpinnings, methods, challenges and opportunities that emerge. Youth co-researchers from Mel’s project will discuss their experiences collaborating on research with other young people as well as with teachers. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own research - past, current or planned - using some of the theoretical tools and methods shared and guided by questions that have arisen through the conversation.

12pm - 1pm Lunch

1pm - 3pm Session 2: Engagements with Aboriginal communities: treading lightly between knowledges, languages and territories

• Mr. Dom Barry (Director, Iwiri Aboriginal Corporation)
• Dr. Sam Osborne (UniSA)
• Dr. Janet Armitage (UniSA)

This workshop explores the elements of respectful and sustainable community partnerships involving both research and teaching, drawing on the experiences of the long-term APY Lands partnership at the University of South Australia. Participants will gain an understanding of principles that can usefully underpin the sharing of knowledge across cultural, linguistic and epistemological systems, as well as an appreciation of considerations researchers need to be mindful of on Country in Indigenous community settings. Participants will be able to apply insights from the workshop to developing strategies for inclusive approaches to research development, conduct and sharing of findings in the contexts of their own research agendas.

3pm - 3.30pm Sharing reflections, actions to take forward, and wrap-up

In this session participants will draw together ideas, considerations and principles that can inform the development of ethics guides, conference protocols and other policy in educational research organisations, including AARE and universities. In particular, we will seek to identify formats for sharing research that involve co-researchers in more inclusive ways than afforded by dominant dissemination models.

3.30pm - 4.30pm post-workshop social gathering

Presenters include:

	Ms. Habibat Abiola Moyosore Ogunbanwo is an Olympian and communications/media student at the University of Canberra. Her sporting journey, highlighted by her participation in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, showcases her resilience and unwavering determination. Beyond the pool, Habibat is dedicated to making a difference as a Youth Project Assistant, passionately advocating for African diaspora youth and promoting inclusivity within Australian schools. In her personal time, Habibat finds joy in crafting homemade chocolates and exploring diverse cultures through travel and food
	Ms. Shaza Hamed is an Eritrean university student born in Melbourne but now based in Adelaide. Her family originally came to Australia to further their studies after being displaced to Sudan, Egypt and Saudia Arabia. She is currently in her second year of university at Flinders, studying a Bachelor of Health Science, specialising in Vision Science with a Master of Optometry, as a double degree program. After experiencing the Australian schooling system, Shaza hopes to be witness and contribute to positive change for future generations offered throughout this project.
	Mr. Dom Barry is Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara man from Kaltjiti (Fregon) community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands. He is a nationally accredited interpreter and translator in Pitjantjatjara and teaches Pitjantjatjara at the UniSA Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara language course. Dom is also a provisional psychologist currently undertaking a Master of Psychology (Clinical) degree at UniSA. Dom has a keen interest in decolonising psychology and introducing Aboriginal/Anangu ways of healing to a predominantly western field with his most recent paper published in the Australian Psychologist titled "Conceptualising Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara mental health beliefs".