Transforming ourselves and others? Reflections on a participatory res...

This was a lecture within the session "Comparison of Participatory Research Approaches in Adult Basic Education".

Session Abstract:

The session’s intent is to tackle the arena of adult basic education through the primary lens of numerate and literate practices by bringing participatory research approaches to the fore. In, thus, favouring bottom-up-approaches in data generation, particular emphasis will be given to exploring their rich methodological range, their value and limits, presenting studies implemented in Austria, South Africa and Uganda, and Germany. The session argues for the epistemological, methodological, ethical and political importance of a participatory ethos in research with regard to persons usually relegated to society’s and academia’s periphery (such as people with disabilities). This aims, finally, to scrutinise the wealth of existing theoretical approaches in their explanatory potential with regard to issues of (self-) empowerment, critical reflection, transformative learning and emancipatory experience.