The Sage Handbook of Social Constructionist Practice. Группа авторов
Morchain and his colleagues (2019). They share how transforming Oxfam's Vulnerability and Risk Assessment methodologies contributed to personal and institutional transformations. Drawing on projects in Malawi, Botswana and Namibia, they conclude that inclusive and representative participatory approaches can help shift narratives that people hold about their lives and work. By establishing platforms and processes for speaking ‘truth to power,’ participatory processes also allow marginal voices to be heard, which can uncover issues that have been previously unaddressed. Their ART research focused on building relationships and on narrowing power dynamics and differentials to enable the co-creation of solutions that are rooted in social justice. Their work is a powerful example of how to move beyond incremental toward transformational thinking and action, especially in relation to climate change adaptation.
This – and the many hundreds more action research cases – share principles of not remaining distant from the object of study, working within a conscious relational space, broadening perspectives and producing results together. Future and past are treated as part of the present moment. To ask ‘how do I do action research’ is similar to asking ‘how do I cook'? There is no simple answer, nor is a conceptual description all that helpful, especially not one without pictures of the dishes. By this I imply that action research is a process and takes various cultural forms across fields of endeavor and scholarly disciplines. And as with cooking there is a range, from simple potatoes to fiesta, and so action research too can involve a few or many thousands. As Gustavsen (2014) points out, there cannot be universality but there is potential for proliferating social learning if the findings are brought to a next group of stakeholders.
The wary newcomer may see this as off-putting and amorphous in comparison to the controlled process of conventional science. Still there are key ingredients or principles (Bradbury and AR+ Associates, see ActionResearchPlus.com); as long as you make sure you are not alone nor follow an expert's recipe to the letter. Along with stakeholders, may the ART force be with you!
Conclusion
I have offered a case as an illustration of the practice of ART. Journals – which channel the work of scholars – help to give voice to, and therefore fashion, the mindset of the educated class that produces – either as reproduction or transformation – the world we have. ART is a process for self-transforming as a scholar, with stakeholders, in the creative work of co-producing a more sustainable world.
To be transformative – that is to bring social constructionism to pragmatism with a larger ecological intention, ART comprises:
Clarifying purpose
Reflexivity and agency
Commitment to developmental process
Inquiry in practice with others
Integrating first, second and third
And don't forget, enjoying ourselves too!
How then might we muddle forward, learning together?
For our transformative inherent potential as a learning species to be realized, a new intention for knowledge creation is key. Like Othello who bemoaned mere ‘prattle without practice’, we can intend for ourselves, new systems of learning – beyond prattle – which can practice as part of a solutions orientation to future forming.
To paraphrase the relational sentiment of Margaret Mead: never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, constructionist action-oriented transformations researchers can help change the world. Isn't it time that more scholars learned to engage fellow citizens in inquiry/practice around desired futures?
It helps to remember the wisdom of philosopher/poet David Whyte who reminds us that our ‘great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone’. We are not alone. We construct the world in relationship. This is the promise of the constructivist spirit of action research for transformations.
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