Seeing ‘With my Own Eyes’: Strengthening Interactions between Researchers and Schools

Alun Davies, Bibi Mbete, Greg Fegan, Sassy Molyneux and Sam Kinyanjui

IDS Bulletin, 2012, vol. 43, issue 5, 61-67

Abstract: We describe a participatory action research (PAR) project aimed at initiating a schools project as a component of the wider Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)–Wellcome Trust Research Programme's (KWTRP) community engagement strategy in Kilifi. Students and teachers from three nearby secondary schools, and scientists from KWTRP, were involved in designing and implementing a set of interventions aimed at promoting school awareness of locally conducted research, and positive attitudes towards school science and health research. The project was evaluated using a mixture of pre‐ and post‐intervention surveys and discussions with teachers, students, researchers and other stakeholders throughout the duration of the project. The project did appear to fill some knowledge gaps about research and contribute to enhancing students' educational experiences, as intended. However, the project also provided a forum where teachers and students could express their concerns and question research practices, and unexpectedly promoted learning among researchers themselves. Further work is needed to learn more about the potential of school engagement to provide benefits for research institutes, individual researchers and local schools.

Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/idsb.2012.43.issue-5

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:idsxxx:v:43:y:2012:i:5:p:61-67

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in IDS Bulletin from Blackwell Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().