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Home > HCAS > HCAS_PUBS > HCAS_JOURNALS > TQR Home > TQR > Vol. 25 > No. 4 (2020)

 

Abstract

This research focuses on the implementation of a series of actions and training workshops with families of a school located in a socially excluded area in the city of Cordoba, Spain. The study explores how the participants perceived the experience and the educational and social benefits of this formative process. The research methodology was based on a participatory action research approach, which involved successive cycles of research and action in different phases: planning and analysis of the problem, action, observation and reflection. Five key informants, selected according to the criterion of structural heterogeneity, participated in the research. Semi-structured interviews and field journals were used as research instruments and content analysis was the technique of choice to analyses the information. The results reveal that the participants found the workshops to be highly beneficial both personally and in terms of the image they project to their children. They also faced challenges regarding their continuity in the activity, such as prejudices or different communication codes. The discussion underlines the importance of conducting training activities with families in contexts of poverty as an educational action that can increase their interest and motivation towards the school and hence enhance their participation in school life.

Keywords

Participatory Action Research, Poverty, Primary Education, Learning communities, Family education

Author Bio(s)

Blas Segovia-Aguilar is Associate Professor in the Department of Education at the Universidad de Córdoba. He has a degree in Psycho-pedagogy and a PhD from the Universidad de Córdoba. His main research interests include inclusive education, schools as communities of learning and new literacies. He is coordinator of the Andalusian University Network of Learning Communities. ORCID: 0000-0003-1145-2099. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: bsegovia@uco.es.

Mª del Mar García-Cabrera is Professor at Universidad de Córdoba (Spain). She has a degree in Pedagogy fron Universidad de Salamanca and a PhD from Universidad de Córdoba. Her main research interest include cooperative learning, school organization and schools as communities of learnig. She is member of the Andalusian University Network of Learning Communities. ORCID: 0000-0002-2716-8888. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: mmgarcia@uco.es.

Eva F. Hinojosa-Pareja is Assistant Professor at Universidad de Córdoba (Spain). She has a degree in Pedagogy, a Master degree in Research and Innovation in Curriculum and Training, and a PhD from the Universidad de Granada. Her main research interests include intercultural education, peace culture, initial teacher training, research in higher education and teaching innovation. She belongs to “Educación, Diversidad y Sociedad” research group: http://www.uco.es/ediso/ ORCID: 0000-0002-1677-94481. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: ehinojosa@uco.es.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Universidad de Córdoba (Spain), which supported this project under the I Plan Propio Galileo, in the Proyectos UCO-Social- Innova section (June, 2015). We also greatly appreciate the participation and dedication of everyone involved in the project.

Publication Date

4-13-2020

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4236

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