JCPSLP Vol 18 No 3 2016

Creating sustainable services: Minority world SLPs in majority world contexts

108

JCPSLP

Volume 18, Number 3 2016

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology

Building collaboration

A participatory research initiative with Vietnam’s first

speech-language pathologists

Marie Atherton, Bronwyn Davidson, and Lindy McAllister

KEYWORDS

COLLABORATION

PARTICIPATORY

ACTION

RESEARCH

SPEECH-

LANGUAGE

PATHOLOGY

VIETNAM

THIS ARTICLE

HAS BEEN

PEER-

REVIEWED

Marie Atherton

(top), Bronwyn

Davidson

(centre), and

Lindy McAllister

sharing new knowledge, and developing new insights into

practices, situations, and processes that could be improved

(Chaiklin, 2011).

PAR is considered a methodology in its own right rather

than a set of research methods (Liamputtong, 2008).

Through iterative cycles of reflecting, planning, engaging in

action, and reflecting upon the outcomes/consequences

of actions undertaken (Figure 1), researchers and those

impacted by a problem develop new insights into the

problem and how it might best be addressed. Findings from

each cycle of the action spiral are fed into the next, with

the overall aim being the identification of actions that effect

positive practical change in relation to the issue of concern

(Kemmis et al., 2013).

A group of Vietnam’s first speech-language

pathology graduates and the primary author,

an Australian speech-language pathologist,

are participating as co-researchers in an

exploration of the emerging practice of

speech-language pathology in Vietnam. This

paper details the initial phases of this

collaborative research program. A description

of the research methodology and the

rationale for utilising participatory action

research are provided. Initial learnings from

the research, including those relating to the

vital role of the interpreter; challenges in

developing a shared understanding of

collaboration in research; and the impact of

distance and technology are described.

Speech-language pathologists from minority

world contexts are encouraged to consider

how they might develop partnerships with

international colleagues to support

collaborative initiatives to progress the

practice of speech-language pathology in

underserved communities.

articipatory action research (PAR) is an umbrella term

for a heterogeneous group of research practices

in which researchers and “the researched” work

together to examine a situation (or problem) and identify

strategies and actions to change the situation for the better

(Kemmis, McTaggart & Nixon, 2013; Kingdon, Pain, &

Kesby, 2007). PAR is situated within the genre of

action

research

, a research approach credited to Kurt Lewin,

a social psychologist, who demonstrated the benefit

of workers participating in research that would inform

decisions impacting their work (Lewin, 1946, as cited in

Adelman, 1993). In the latter half of the twentieth century,

Brazilian educator Paulo Freire further developed the

concept of participation and collaboration in research by

arguing that through participation in decisions regarding

their lives, every person, regardless of the level of their

impoverishment or disempowerment, could be empowered

to make changes in their lives for the better (Friere, 1970).

Critical to Friere’s position was the value of conducting

research

with

(not on) people as a means of creating and

Reflect

Plan

Act

Observe

Figure 1. Action research cycles. Retrieved from

http://cei.ust.

by Centre for Education Innovation, HKUST. Reprinted with

permission.