Learning to facilitate community-based research: Guidelines from a novice researcher1

Abstract

The diversity of South Africa’s population calls for authentic and contextually relevant participation in research that is community based. For novice researchers and researchers transitioning to participative methods, it can be challenging to facilitate a community-based research (CBR) project if they lack the necessary facilitation skills or experience. These skills are crucial to enable collaborative and participative learning. In this paper, I explain how I learnt to facilitate a participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) project through critical reflection on self and process. I generated data from my personal reflective journal entries and transcripts of our action learning group sessions, and I validated my claims to knowledge by recoding the data with two critical friends, my coauthors of this paper. The claims to knowledge I share in this paper are twofold. Firstly, I have come to know how to improve my facilitation skills and, secondly, I have learnt to use continuous critical self-reflection to guide my actions in conducting more ethical CBR, underpinned by the principles of PALAR. I believe that my account of learning may help other researchers improve their facilitation of community-based participatory research groups to become more confident, critically reflective, and ethical researchers.