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Community Work Research through Co-Operative Inquiry in Timor-Leste, Australia and Peru: Insights into Process

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Abstract

Co-operative inquiry is an under-explored method in community-based research. Its democratic approach involves a group of “co-researchers” collaboratively inquiring into a mutually-agreed research topic through systematic cycles of reflection and action. This article shares the process, outcomes, and methodological reflections of three co-operative inquiries that were conducted as part of an international study regarding love in community work. Groups of up to 10 community workers in rural villages in Timor-Leste, Australia, and Peru engaged in co-operative inquiry to collaboratively develop new knowledge to inform practice. The article analyses data regarding co-inquirer experiences of the methodology, and identifies the strengths and challenges of the co-operative inquiry method to support the collective generation of new knowledge. The article concludes that co-operative inquiry involves shared power, participation, action, and contextual reflexivity, and is a useful method for community workers to collaboratively develop innovative approaches to community work practice through cycles of reflection and action.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gender, Leadership and Social Sustainability Research Unit, Department of Social Work, Monash University, Building C, Level 4, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East, Victoria, 3145, Australia

    Naomi Joy Godden

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  1. Naomi Joy Godden
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Correspondence to Naomi Joy Godden.

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Godden, N.J. Community Work Research through Co-Operative Inquiry in Timor-Leste, Australia and Peru: Insights into Process. Syst Pract Action Res 31, 55–73 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-017-9420-0

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