Intro to YPAR

Objective: Write "Youth Participatory Action Research" on the board. Today we are going to break down the definition of YPAR, which is an exciting project that we will be leading you through this semester. We are going to talk about what it means to do research, and specifically what it means to do action research.

Review for Facilitators: What is action research?

Warm-Up: Continuum Exercise (15 minutes)

Engage: PAR Process Cards (15 minutes)

Core Activity: Defining YPAR (20 minutes)

Extension: The Scientific Method (10 minutes)

Core Activity: Defining YPAR Collage (20 minutes)

Materials: Chart paper, Magazines (popular culture, at least some news or scientific journals), Scissors, Tape or glue

Write “Participatory” on the top of one piece of chart paper. Write “Action” on the top of another. Write “Research” on the top of the last one. Place these on three different walls in the classroom.
Divide students into three groups and assign each group to one of the pieces of chart paper. Distribute magazines, scissors, and tape or glue. Explain that each group is going to cut out pictures from the magazine that represent their assigned word. (10 minutes)
When students are finished, ask each group to share their collage and explain how they have defined their assigned word. First review "Research," then "Participatory," then "Action." Each group should take 5 minutes. As students present, ask additional questions to spark discussion: (15 minutes)
- For "Research":
  - Who do you picture doing research? What does a researcher look like?
  - Where do you picture research being done? What does it look like?
  - Explain that PAR re-defines who does research and what counts as research.
- For "Participatory":
  - What does it mean to participate?
  - Who are the participants on our team? Who else might be a part of our work?
  - How can our participation add to or change our original thoughts about “research”?
  - ”Participatory” research is about figuring out a problem together - people experience things differently and may see different things as the problem; it’s about research and expertise coming from people who are traditionally viewed as research “subjects”, rather than from the researchers; it’s about the audience and recipients of our research being the community that we are a part of, rather than for scientific / academic / professional communities
- For "Action":
  - How can “action” add to or change our original thoughts about “research”?
  - In PAR, we decide where we want to make a difference, and we use the information we collect from research to make something better. We evaluate this information together to see what the next steps are. The better the research...the better the action!

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