Action Research Practitioner Papers No. 1 Spiral of Learning to Promote Participatory Action Research for Sustainable Development

Marc P Lammerink

ISBN 10: 0987118161 / ISBN 13: 9780987118165

Published by Action Learning, Action Research Association, 2022

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Action Research Practitioner Papers No. 1 Spiral of Learning to Promote Participatory Action Research for Sustainable Development
• Publisher: Action Learning, Action Research Association
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0987118161
• ISBN 13: 9780987118165
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Practitioners in development often fail to relate their expert knowledge to the logic, knowledge, and experiences of local people. Local people's ways of seeing contain many ingredients for change. Local people are the key to development, and should therefore actively participate in the change process, and not just be seen as recipients. Thus, a major challenge for professionals is to discover, with local people, clues that can help to build a more sustainable environment, to promote and build resilience, to better understand clashes between power groups/cultures and to embrace new perspectives and values.

The Spiral of Learning approach aims at augmenting professional competence on the topics at hand by refining their knowledge and skills, but more importantly by questioning their taken-for-granted assumptions, values and beliefs and bringing them to the surface, by embracing error, by changing their attitudes, by raising awareness and transforming deeply held perspectives of the world in which they work and act, and finally, by gaining self-respect and confidence.

During the learning process, ethical issues are challenged: ethics in learning but also in community participation and research with local people. Power issues are part and parcel of the reflections. Furthermore, 'learning how to learn' is involved through regular reflecting on both the process and the content.

The Spiral of Learning differs from many learning approaches in doing unique work, moving from non-participatory to participatory learning focusing on the participant's lived experience and how this worked out in specific cases. The process followed in the Learning Spiral does not impose any participatory methodology. Underlying principles of this approach are Experiential Learning and Popular Education. Experience is seen as an important source of learning.

In this Practitioner Paper, I will explain and show by means of examples how to achieve the implementation of participatory methodologies in the field in a participative way.

I give two examples of programmes designed to encourage and mentor professionals in using participatory approaches and Action Research for sustainable development.

About the Author

Dr Marc P. Lammerink, from the Netherlands, has over 45 years of professional experience in interdisciplinary work, Popular Education, and Participatory Action Research.Marc trained as a social scientist, and from 1989 until recently, he ran a consulting firm based in the Netherlands, FMD Consultants, which focused on the development of innovative training and Participatory Action Research programmes in the field, and on supporting organisations to systematically integrate a culture of participatory work approaches and creating conditions for longer-term sustainability. He has organized and coordinated various projects in development areas as diverse as social forestry, community water management, biodiversity, and endogenous development in countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.