Community-Based Participatory Research Design Relevance for Decolonizing Postgraduate Education

Introduction

The chapter explores the fundamental principles of community-based participatory research design and their relevance for decolonizing postgraduate programs. The ability of the participatory approach to create authentic partnerships and prioritize community needs has implications for decolonizing postgraduate programs. The participatory methodology invites us to re-envision knowledge creation and dissemination in postgraduate programs. Research is a crucial part of postgraduate programs. Hence, the type of methodological frameworks we use can support the decolonization process. Adopting community-based approaches that meaningfully engage communities in all stages of research activities can lead to the decolonization of the programs and research process. In contributing to the call to decolonize postgraduate programs in the African context, we present lessons from a community-based study that engaged rural women from northern Ghana in a dry-season gardening project. The chapter shows how decolonization can be achieved within educational institutions when communities are meaningfully engaged in research activities. The findings highlight that community-based research approaches can be crucial in decolonizing postgraduate programs.

This chapter highlights the important role community-based participatory research (CBPR) can play in decolonizing African postgraduate programs. The success of decolonization efforts will depend on how we centre communities in our programs. Recent times have witnessed increasing efforts being made to decolonize universities, including how knowledge is created and shared in Africa (Burke, Hobenshield, & Campbell, 2020; De Sousa Santos, 2019; Mbembe, 2016; Nyamnjoh, 2019; Ocholla, 2020; Stein, & Andreotti, 2016). Using a community-based study with rural women in northern Ghana, we examine the potential of community-based research frameworks (CBPR) to help decolonize higher learning programs. To avoid helicopter research within Indigenous communities, community-based participatory research that creates space for communities to lead is being emphasized (Castleden, Garvin, & Huu-ay-aht FirstNation, 2008; Darroch, & Giles, 2014; Ferreira & Gendron, 2011; Stanton, 2014). According to Wallerstein and Duran (2006), the key features of CBPR are that it promotes genuine partnership and co-learning between academic and community partners, enhances capacity building in the research process, ensures research benefits all research partners, and reduces inequities and disparities within communities. Minkler (2005) also observes that CBPR has three elements: participation, research, and action. Darroch and Giles (2014) conclude that CBPR is a more ethical and equitable approach to research. Following this, Datta et al. (2015) asserted that the CBPR empowers participants and promotes knowledge ownership in the research process.