Tools & Resources

To support the Consortium in the designing, implementing and reporting on the Participatory Activities integrated within into the empirical lines of work, the WP8 Core Team has developed a series of tools which have been applied at different stages of the research process. The tools are shared here to foster their application and adaptation in further experiences of research.

Participation Design Board

Introduced at the earliest stages of the project, the tool supported the project partners in designing the integration of participatory activities into the empirical Work Packages (from 3 to 6); through its application, the Core Teams of the WPs have pursued the solution which best fit the management and implementation of the research lines coordinated by their WPs.

The tool is designed to first enable a spatial placement of the participatory activities in relation to the different research tasks (and related stages) of the WPs. This objective is pursued through a cartesian plane designed by adapting the continuum of different degrees of participation (ranging from minimal involvement of participants to their role as co-researchers) illustrated by Brown (2022, p. 22) on the y-axis. The x-axis is organised on the different moments (design, data collection, data analysis, discussion of findings, dissemination of findings), during which the participatory actions can be integrated into the WPs. Since the board is meant to be a reflexive and operational tool to be used at an early stage of designing Participatory Activities, it also includes a section devoted to the discussion of doubts and envisaged risks to be taken into consideration for the implementation of the activities.

 

Participatory Activity Travelogue

Applied throughout the process of implementation of the Participatory Activities planned by the Core Teams coordinating the empirical work in CLEAR, the Participatory Activity Travelogue helps in gathering insights, discussing, and systematising the experiences of integration of Participatory Activities into research.

The Travelogue supports the project partners in discussing and sharing their experiences of implementing participatory actions by following a list of guiding questions focused on the added value brought by the integration of Participatory Activities and the potential problems faced throughout the process. Finally, the Travelogue helps in quantifying and profiling (in terms of gender, age, and position within the educational system) the persons involved in participatory activities, informing the general assessment of the impacts of the project.

A visual framework for designing participative multitarget events (aka the “Octopus”)

The tool has been designed to define a general framework for the Innovation Forums including both a theoretical and operational common ground. It helped to align all partners in the view of the implementation of this kind of participative events in their local areas.

The visual framework includes several sections, from the pivotal characteristics of the event and its aims to the methods and techniques deployed, passing by target groups, outputs and structure of the activities. Each section is described by a clear title, it contains questions orienting the discussion and it includes spaces to take note of the decisions taken, leaving room for reminders, doubts and unresolved issues.

The Transversal Participatory Approach

Throughout its development, the CLEAR project has implemented a series of Participatory Activities (PAs) integrated into the empirical lines of work (see WP3, WP4, WP5 and WP6).

At an early stage of the project life, each Core Team leading the different empirical WPs assessed the feasibility and the level of participation which fitted and complemented the more “traditional” research activities.

Specifically:

  • the PA integrated into WP3 (Quantitative Analyses of Learning Outcomes) consisted in a discussion of the preliminary results of the quantitative analysis with a group of “critical friends” (see experts and professionals in disciplines not represented within project’s Consortium) to gain deeper insights and test the accessibility of its content for diverse audiences;
  • the PA integrated into WP4 (Institutional Analysis, Policy Review, and Assessment) was implemented by sharing the WP4 results with a group of institutional representatives engaged during the research activities;
  • the PA integrated into WP5 (Qualitative Research with Young People) implemented focus groups with local-street experts with the aim of discussing the main themes to be included in the interviews, fine-tuning the profile of young people to be involved in research and defining solutions to reach and engage them;
  • The Core Team of WP6 (Expert Survey on Policy Coordination) has integrated two Pas. The first PA involved three national groups of experts and stakeholders with the two-fold aim of discussing the relevance of policy issues and priorities, to be addressed in the survey and better define experts’ profile to targeted by the survey itself. The second PA consisted in the discussion of the first draft of analysis of the survey’s data with a transnational group of stakeholders and experts.

In addition, the TPA contributes to the work planned in WP7 (Comparative Analyses and Reporting) and WP9 (Communication, dissemination and exploitation), although they do not have an empirical nature:

  • concerning WP7, its comparative aim entails particular relevance for the possibility to contextualise the results deriving from the mixed-methods research run in the previous WPs. Such contextualisation is empowered by the involvement of the stakeholders who contribute to shaping the processes of LOs construction at the local level, making their views key for a deep understanding of the dynamics which link the specificity of the contexts to higher levels frameworks (from the regional, to the national and international);
  • the dissemination strategies coordinated by WP9 are enhanced by the TPA, as the involvement of different profiles of stakeholders in the field of education (from policy makers to young learners) gives the research teams chances for finetuning and testing the languages and the communication strategies targeting different audiences with different outputs.

Finally, the TPA is closely connected to the production of visual and graphic outputs for the Innovation Forums, which are designed as primary dissemination tools and conversation starters for a non-academic audience.