Facilitating youth participatory action research (YPAR): A scoping review of relational practice in U.S. Youth development & out-of-school time projects

• Published in: Children and youth services review Vol. 136; p. 106399
• Main Authors: Malorni, Angie, Lea, Charles H., Richards-Schuster, Katie, Spencer, Michael S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2022; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescent development; Epistemology; Group identity; Out of school time; Participatory action research; Participatory research; Social development; Youth; United States > US
• ISSN: 0190-7409; 1873-7765
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106399

•Three sets of relational practices emerged in the review: (1) facilitating critical dialogue, (2) sharing power, and (3) building a collective identity.•Facilitating critical dialogue included: critically exploring lived experiences and navigating difference, dissent, and conflict as a collective.•Sharing power included: providing opportunities for peer learning, collaborative goal setting, presence and engagement, and transparency.•Building a collective identity included: learning about ones’ communities, accountability and creating a sense of collective efficacy.•Together, they give insight into how adults may facilitate critical reflection and action in YPAR projects in youth development and out-of-school time spaces. YPAR is increasingly used as a powerful tool for research and action but, its’ practice is often a ‘black box’, with the mechanisms in play absent or not described in detail. When methodological practice is made more explicit, it is illuminated that all too often, youth are not meaningfully integrated into many important aspects of the research. However, we know that relationships are central to the success of YPAR. As such we explore the research question of: ‘what are the relational practices in YPAR that can facilitate critical inquiry, reflection and action?’.We conducted a scoping review of 40 articles that discuss YPAR practice in youth development and out-of-school time spaces. Our results highlight a series of practices aimed at facilitating critical dialogue, sharing power and building a collective identity. These practices can help keep the YPAR practice aligned with its’ epistemological aims and support the practice of critical inquiry and reflection into action. Facilitating Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR): A Scoping Review of Relational Practice in U.S. Youth Development & Out-of-School Time Projects.