Handbook on Participatory Methods for Community-Based Projects: A Guide for Programmers and Implementers Based on the Participatory Action Research Project with Young Mothers and their Children in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Northern Uganda
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Date
2010
Authors
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PAR Project
Abstract
Participation” is a word that has been used in child protection and development
circles for many years. The term has come to mean everything from a token
consultation with a benefi ciary group to full-scale participation by affected ommunities in program development, implementation, and evaluation. In this
handbook, we will be describing methods at this further end of the spectrum –
that is, highly participatory approaches.
Participatory Action Research (PAR) is one type of participatory methodology
that is designed not only to achieve social change for a group or in a community,
but also to document and learn from that process through research. PAR
actively involves the target participants in a process to improve their situations.
Participants become the “program designers” and “researchers” as they identify
and implement solutions to the obstacles to achieving full participation in their
community. Participants are key actors as evaluators of the project, refl ecting
on how well the process has helped them reach their stated goals.
This process whereby participants engage in self-refl ective inquiry into their
own situations, identify problems and possible solutions, implement the solutions,
and evaluate the project is an iterative one – as new problems or obstacles
are recognized, approaches to addressing the problems are developed and
implemented. Unlike traditional program design that is agency-centric where a
problem is identifi ed, then a program is implemented, and after implementation,
the program is evaluated, PAR offers multiple opportunities to develop and
build upon what is learned throughout the process of implementation with the
participants taking center stage.
Description
Keywords
Community-Based Projects, Participatory Action Research Project, Young Mothers, Children
Citation
Onyango, G., & Worthen, M. Handbook on Participatory Methods for Community-Based Projects.