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Working at the Margin: Lessons Learned from School-Based Participatory Research

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Abstract

School-based participatory research (SBPR) studies—that is, school-situated and action-oriented collaborative inquiries in which those researched are involved in research processes as participants, decision-makers, or co-researchers—aim at producing and translating knowledge with the potential to offer transformative, relevant, and viable solutions to specific school-based matters. While several studies have provided recommendations for ethical conducts of engaging in SBPR, there has been a lack of examinations on the lived experiences of education researchers, who face uncertain and complex interactions within SBPR contexts. Using autobiographical narrative inquiry, this study thus (1) explores the lived experiences of education researchers engaging in SBPR with underserved students and their school communities and (2) identifies challenges they face and opportunities they become aware of in building and maintaining reciprocal and positive relationships in their research processes. Three SBPR researchers in the field of physical and health education present their lived experiences through fictionalized stories and subsequent reflections on those stories. This study thus critically unpacks some of the challenging ethical questions and internal dilemmas faced by SBPR researchers. Narrative findings revealed that SBPR researchers must understand themselves while relationally understanding others’ opinions about their research projects. Therefore, concepts of reflexivity, relationship, and sustainability were further discussed via researchers’ self-reflective narratives. This study may offer other education researchers a set of conceptual or methodological tools for reflecting critically on their own experiences of engaging in SBPR, thereby contributing to the enhancement of ethical conducts in SBPR studies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Ms. Shaylene Bachelet for her contribution during the conception phase of this study and Ms. Christine Vlcek who offered critical comments in the review process.

Funding

This research was supported by the Research Grant of Jeonju University in 2019.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education (Physical Education), Yongin University, Yongin, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea

    Weon-Il Lee

  2. Department of Physical Education, Jeonju University, Jeonju, 407 Sunyeonggwan, Cheonjam-ro, Jeonju, Jeollabuk, 55069, Republic of Korea

    Yeonkyoung Jin

  3. Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Kyoung June Yi

Authors
  1. Weon-Il Lee
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  2. Yeonkyoung Jin
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  3. Kyoung June Yi
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Contributions

All three authors equally participated in all phases of the research process.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yeonkyoung Jin.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest, and there is no relevant financial interest related to this manuscript.

Ethical Approval

This study does not require ethics approval as it is an autobiographical narrative inquiry. Authors, however, strategically used a fiction-writing technique to protect the privacy of others who might be identifiable through the storied representation. All names appear in this manuscript are pseudonyms.

Consent to Participate

All authors agreed to participate in this autobiographical study as participants.

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All participants (i.e., authors) agreed to publication.

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Lee, WI., Jin, Y. & Yi, K.J. Working at the Margin: Lessons Learned from School-Based Participatory Research. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 31, 519–528 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-021-00599-1

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