An Investigation on School-Based YPAR Initiatives: Examining the Impacts of Teachers’ Attitudes and Practices.

This dissertation examined how teacher attitudes and practices and the role of a participant observer impacted school-based Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) initiatives. Typically, YPAR initiatives have been conducted after-school or in community settings and recently some researchers have begun collaborating with teachers to integrate YPAR into classroom settings. Previous work has alluded to certain teacher attitudes and practices impacting this issue of power sharing between youth and teachers. As such, the first objective of this dissertation examined how teacher expectations, teacher-student relationships, teachers’ classroom management, and teacher power impact their facilitation during school-based YPAR initiatives. Also in this body of YPAR work, researchers have encouraged taking on the role of a participant observer. Providing technical support to novice adult facilitators, teachers in this case, allows for them to feel more comfortable when facilitating a YPAR initiative with their students. As a first phase for my dissertation, I engaged in pilot work that attempted to integrate YPAR into a school setting. In this pilot study phase, I noticed that the teacher I worked with relied heavily on my assistance when implementing a YPAR initiative with his students to a degree that seemed to jeopardize the integrity of the initiative. Thus, the second objective of this dissertation examined how taking on a participant observer role impacted teachers facilitation during a school-based YPAR initiative. Using ethnographic methods, I conducted case studies in two classrooms with teachers who implemented YPAR initiatives with their students. With the use of observational, formal and informal interviews, my findings revealed that the two teachers attitudes and practices and my role as a participant observer impacted their facilitation of a YPAR initiative on varying levels and to different degrees. Limitations and implications from the current study are also presented to inform future work on school-based YPAR initiatives.PhDEducation and PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110397/1/kwinborn_1.pd