Empowering connections: participatory action research in teacher education with vulnerable youth
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This second-order analysis of qualitative participatory action research (PAR) explored teacher responsiveness to student negativity within a therapeutic school serving vulnerable youth, working in partnership with a teacher-education college. The community comprised college student-teachers, cooperating teachers, pupils, and me, the researcher, as the clinical supervisor of student-teachers. The study employed three cyclical PAR phases across an academic year, utilizing collaborative meetings, reflective journaling, reciprocal interviews, and focus groups. Throughout the study and the second-order analysis, I engaged in a dynamic process of looking backward and forwards, reflecting on past actions, and planning future interventions based on insights from theory and the collaborative experiences of participants. Insights revealed how stakeholder involvement fostered belonging through ceremonial participation, while co-construction of knowledge about “porcupine children” emerged through dialogue. The PAR process addressed real-world challenges and facilitated capacity building that transformed student-teachers into relational agents through collaborative learning. The aim of this paper is to illustrate via second-order analysis how the iterative approach, grounded in the relationships between the researcher and stakeholders, allows for continuous learning and adaptation within the participatory action research process, in a way that affirms the relevance of relational agency in teacher education while empowering connections.
Source: Educational Action Research
Author: Noam Lapidot-Lefler
Institutions: Oranim Academic College of Education, University of Haifa
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4416299780