'Sitting there and listening was one of the most important lessons I had to learn': critical capacity building in youth participatory action research

Carla Luguetti, Nyayoud Jice, Loy Singehebhuye, Kashindi Singehebhuye, Adut Mathieu, Ramon Spaaij

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This work builds upon critical youth studies' concern with capacity building in engaging young people as active agents for social change. This article analyses critical capacity building processes among young women engaged in youth participatory action research (YPAR) that sought to co-design a community sport programme in Melbourne, Australia. Participants included the first author, four young women (second to the fifth author), and a critical friend (sixth author). The experience of engaging young women in YPAR foregrounded significant capacity building such as: (a) learning to genuinely listen to young people in order to plan for change; (b) finding creative and flexible ways to build relationships; (c) learning to negotiate the messiness and uncertainty in the research process; and (d) improving problem-solving skills in order to listen and respond to young people in their community. This paper concludes by articulating how YPAR can potentialise the development of critical capacity building in youth studies, nurturing skills and knowledge linked with social justice, activism, and democracy, instead of instrumentalist and technocratic capacity-building models that focus on training and predefined practical skills.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1477-1493
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Youth Studies
Volume27
Issue number10
Early online dateJun 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Nov 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • Capacity building
  • Critical youth studies
  • Football
  • Sport
  • Youth development
  • Youth participatory action research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of ''Sitting there and listening was one of the most important lessons I had to learn': critical capacity building in youth participatory action research'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this