“Wayfarer, there is no path, you make the path as you go”: Participatory Action Research and its implications in practice

Abstract

In this article we argue that it persists some disagreement on what Participatory Action Research (PAR) is and what its practice implies given that other related concepts such as Participatory Research (PAR) and Action Research (AR) are used to name Orlando Fals Borda’s methodological and pedagogical proposal. In this sense, we aim to establish the methodological procedure underlying the union of theory and practice, reflection, planning, action, education, transformation, individual and community welfare and social values. In addition to the theoretical analysis, we present the experience obtained with a coastal community of Yucatan, Mexico, in which we implemented par. This empirical work allows us to reflect on our understanding, show paths to develop the methodology and present some results. Within this framework, based on the participants’ perceptions, we evaluate this experience to identify its implications in terms of welfare. The qualitative methods applied in this research were a case study as well as research techniques such as performance tests, semi-structured interviews, participant observation and focus group. The results show that the joint participation between community researchers (facilitators) and academic researchers (project partners) led to the design and construction of a stilt-house to protect inhabitants from floods and ensure their safety during the hurricane season, one of the greatest risks for the community. These achievements were attained through a two-way process embracing both teaching and learning along which the already trained community researchers taught new members about a number of aspects related to par, such as its methodological characteristics and steps, ideas on housing construction, durability, relevance of joint work and communication. This article ends up with a reflection on the importance of learning and making paths while going —keeping in mind that not only one path exists— with participants from the community, with whom we face group-level research problems. Whether we call it par, pr, or ar, we must always keep in mind the philosophical, axiological and empirical bases of this type of research.

Keywords

• bienestar
• educación no formal
• Investigación Acción
• Investigación Participante