Participatory Action Research: Embracing the Knowledge Perspective within Field Research (Burmese Language)

Preface (English translation)

For any functioning democracy the active participation of its people, as citizens, in politics and civic life is of utmost importance. Active participation must not only be limited to the participation of citizens in national or local elections but is also required in daily life on the local and community level to ensure a flourishing democracy. Participatory Action Research (PAR) offers an approach to integrate democratic principles into local community development. While there are many definitions and different practices of PAR it can be summarized as a “participatory, democratic process that seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to people in their communities.”[1]
As opposed to traditional research were the researcher is an external observer extracting data and knowledge from the “object of research” PAR researches rather with than on the communities. Different from academic research PAR focuses on the common action and reflection and seeks shift the power balance towards the local communities. The communities themselves become the “owners” of their knowledge setting their own agenda on how to improve their lives. PAR practitioners do not introduce external readymade “one size fits all” solutions to the communities. They rather play the role of a “midwife”, facilitating the process and providing a helping hand on the way towards finding practical solutions.

In the cooperative relationship between the PAR practitioner and the community the equal respect for knowledge is a central issue. The existing Indigenous knowledge in the communities is respected as equal to “external scientific” knowledge as is the ability of the communities to find their own culturally appropriate solutions. With its diverse toolkit PAR is thus well placed to explore and strengthen Indigenous Knowledge end ethnic diversity. During the (intercultural) dialogue between the practitioners and the community members and the common process of action - reflection - action communities become increasingly aware of their existing indigenous knowledge and its value. But PAR not only strives for bridging knowledge systems. Due its focus on visual communication PAR is also well suited for multilingual contexts and can bridge language barriers through drawings and image representation. In particular in a multiethnic place like Myanmar with its plethora of languages and local dialects this is a major advantage.

As a political foundation promoting sustainability, democracy, self-determination and justice on a global level the Heinrich Boell Stiftung has long supported active participation and agency of local communities in development processes. Since several years the foundation promoted and applied Participatory Action Research and other participatory approaches as instruments to strengthen democratic practice in local development in Myanmar and elsewhere. To this end the Myanmar program of the Heinrich Boell Stiftung worked closely together with Dr. Maria Angelica Salas and Dr. Hermann J. Tillmann, internationally renowned educators on participatory methods, who authored the original English language version of this manual, published by the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development of Chiang Mai University. The idea for a Myanmar translation and the adaptation of the manual to the context of Myanmar came up as part of a one-year capacity building program on Participatory Indigenous Natural Resource Management in cooperation with the local nongovernmental organization ECODEV/ALARM (See final chapter). The results and experiences of the training program are also enriching this publication.

We hope that this manual will serve as a useful and inspiring guideline to a growing community of development practitioners in Myanmar who recognize the value of participatory processes and in particular PAR for the bottom-up democratic transformation of Myanmar.
We would like to thank Dr. Tillmann and Dr. Salas and the publishers for their endorsement to translate their publication into Myanmar and for their tireless effort as educators in Myanmar and around the world on participatory methods. We also owe our gratitude to Mr. Win Myo Thu, executive director of ECODEV/Alarm who strongly supports the promotion of participatory methods among Myanmar’s development practitioners, and his program manager Lwin Maung Maung Swe for his enduring support during the one year training program, as well as all other organizations and individuals involved who are too numerous to mention them all. Our particular thanks go to the rural communities who welcomed the trainees with open arms to share their experiences during their field practices and engage in an equal and respectful dialogue.

We dedicate this book to the memory of Kyaw Zaw Linn, one of the participants of the above mentioned training program, who suddenly passed away in March 2013 shortly after the first training workshop in Naung Kham.

 

Rainer Einzenberger

Program Coordinator Myanmar
Heinrich Boell Stiftung Southeast Asia

January, 2014

 

[1] P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice (pp. 1-14). London: Sage 2001

Product details
Date of Publication
April 2014
Publisher
Heinrich Böll Stiftung Southeast Asia
Number of Pages
150
Licence
Language of publication
Burmese