Opening up Participatory Spaces: A Way of Rethinking School Practices Linked to Territory

Background: For education to be underpinned deeply by the principles of inclusion and interculturality, there is a need for school to be reconceptualised as an institution which is strongly linked to its territory and capable of being an agent of social change. As part of a wider project exploring processes of democratic participation for social transformation, this article reports on a research study that supported schools to review and reformulate their educational practices through a school-based Participatory Action Research (PAR) project. Purpose: The study sought to support participating schools to examine, review and transform practices by using participatory social diagnosis (PSD) strategies. In particular, it aimed to explore the ways in which PSD practices enabled the review of practices linked to territory, encouraging a process of transformative participation towards inclusion. Method: Through participatory projects across four infant (3- to 6-year-old pupils) and primary (6- to 12-year-old pupils) schools in different locations in Spain, case studies were developed to examine participation and community building in the context of each case. Data, including recordings of focus group sessions, were transcribed and analysed qualitatively, using content analysis techniques. Findings: Across the four case studies, analysis suggested that, in a variety of ways, spaces and times were created for shared reflection, and participatory techniques generated creative forms available to the entire community to contribute to the analysis and transformation of practices. The findings indicated that PAR techniques had enabled a means of participation that led to a process of circulation and collective production of knowledge, allowing a rethinking of inclusion and territory. Conclusions: Our small scale, in-depth study highlights the implications of opening up participatory spaces with regard to the concept of community, social change and territory. This research may provide insights for future researchers and school communities with similar goals of changing educational practices to address participation from an inclusive and intercultural approach.