Participatory Action Research in Adult Education

Abstract

Participatory action research (PAR) is an embodied form of inquiry that engages those most affected by an issue or problem in creating knowledge and developing solutions. PAR epistemology intersects with a critical approach to adult education in its belief that programs, methods, and content must be relevant to learner needs and challenges and ought to lead to greater social justice. The purpose of this chapter is to offer a review of three critical, participatory inquiry methods that are connected to the ontological and epistemological anchors of PAR. The authors present readers with a useful description of how to enact these onto-epistemological anchors through these methods in diverse contexts. They conclude that these methods have great potential for critical educators to live out their own onto-epistemological commitments, better understand and meet learner needs, and facilitate positive social change.