Overview
In this phase, we make systems visible to teachers and students by recognizing patterns that connect personal stories; in other words, we generate a structural analysis of the conditions shaping our lives. For example, when one person shares about an experience of a family member who is incarcerated, it is easy to mischaracterize that one person as having an individual problem and to pathologize their struggle. However, when multiple people share experiences with loved ones who are incarcerated, we are able to feel not only a deeper compassion for ourselves by seeing our experience reflected in others, but we are also able to reframe our experience in light of larger structures. As Michelle Fine (2008) writes, the process of seeing one’s own experience as part of a larger set of structures serves to “clean out the shame and help youth recast dominant formulations of causality” (p. 225). Once we are able to see patterns emerge through repetitions, we can think in more complex ways about root causes of social conditions in order to trouble myths and status quo understandings through a more nuanced, informed perspective. In short, when students begin to see larger systems emerge through patterns they “read in the world,” students are equipped to “read the word” through the analyses of other thinkers as well (see Reading the Word, Reading the World framework for further detail).
When youth understand that their experiences are shaped by historical and structural forces, they are able to access a sense of agency that is otherwise trapped under the sense of personal shame and a culture of silence that serves to perpetuate systems of oppression. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that young people often feel powerless in the face of such systems; it can be overwhelming to unpack the large, systemic nature of social injustices at any age, especially when your own self, family, and community hold high stakes in those systems. We have learned that it is especially important during this phase to highlight sources of hope and group solidarity. One way to do this is to highlight historic movements in which people have resisted and created alternative systems. This is an important time to create performances of possibility, in which students can see and feel their own capacity to take action in the world. Finally, it is important during this phase to build wellness, trust, and solidarity by centering our own desires and senses of possibility in any number of ways.
During this phase, teachers may face the challenge of conducting their own studies and deepening their own understanding of the themes that emerge for student research in addition to identifying the textual and human resources to appropriately guide students. This is especially hard if you are supporting numerous student projects. See the Reading the Word, Reading the World section of this curriculum for tips on how to streamline this process.
The following methods can be used to generate structural analyses. Since there is no prescribed sequence to these methods, they are listed alphabetically. It is up to you to determine which activities work best at which particular moments in your classroom for your particular students. For more information regarding starred methods, refer to the Adaptable Methods section of this curriculum.
When youth understand that their experiences are shaped by historical and structural forces, they are able to access a sense of agency that is otherwise trapped under the sense of personal shame and a culture of silence that serves to perpetuate systems of oppression. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that young people often feel powerless in the face of such systems; it can be overwhelming to unpack the large, systemic nature of social injustices at any age, especially when your own self, family, and community hold high stakes in those systems. We have learned that it is especially important during this phase to highlight sources of hope and group solidarity. One way to do this is to highlight historic movements in which people have resisted and created alternative systems. This is an important time to create performances of possibility, in which students can see and feel their own capacity to take action in the world. Finally, it is important during this phase to build wellness, trust, and solidarity by centering our own desires and senses of possibility in any number of ways.
During this phase, teachers may face the challenge of conducting their own studies and deepening their own understanding of the themes that emerge for student research in addition to identifying the textual and human resources to appropriately guide students. This is especially hard if you are supporting numerous student projects. See the Reading the Word, Reading the World section of this curriculum for tips on how to streamline this process.
The following methods can be used to generate structural analyses. Since there is no prescribed sequence to these methods, they are listed alphabetically. It is up to you to determine which activities work best at which particular moments in your classroom for your particular students. For more information regarding starred methods, refer to the Adaptable Methods section of this curriculum.
Methods
Annotated Bibliography
This assignment works well as a corollary to reading & discussion groups. A sample assignment sheet can be found here, and a sample checklist can be found here. We suggest using a collaborative group structure to write the first one or two entries because it helps eliminate some of the phobia that comes up with words like “annotated bibliography.”
*Dialogue
Dialogue is an excellent way to crack open the connections between individual experiences and systems. These two examples demonstrate dialogue as a structural analysis method. See Adaptable Methods: Debate, Discussion, Dialogue.
Reading & Discussion Groups
In small groups clustered around a similar broad theme (for example, critical race theory or gender studies), students regularly meet during class time to read and engage in dialogue with selected texts. Groups can be led by teachers in seminar rotations, by student facilitators as a performance of possibility to “own the knowledge” in front of peers, or by community mentors who can engage students in and model skillful dialogue to make connections between the texts and bigger themes and ideas. Though we have compiled this list of readings, you can refer to the Reading the Word guidepost to learn how to compile your own reading lists.
Writing & Dialogue
Open-ended writing prompts are useful during this phase as students are processing large amounts of information and making sense of it. Students may create a text to use in a dialogue; or, students may engage in open-ended writing after a dialogue.
Forum Theater
This activity from Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed repertoire is a good follow up to story circles. In this activity, students create skits that represent a real-life oppression and audience members tag into the scene to figure out how to “solve” the problem. While the issue at hand is often not solved in the immediate scene, this exercise helps participants to analyze the various challenges and opportunities to take action and consider what the roots of the conflict actually are. See this presentation for more information and look for various resources online on how to facilitate this method.
Performances of Possibility - Fall Conferences
This method alleviates students’ anxiety around engaging in highly rigorous, scholarly work by experiencing a performance of possibility that models and develops their ability to envision their own successful completion of the CPAR process. For example, Humanities Amped seniors and sophomores attended the 2018-19 Fall Conference during which academic professionals presented their work on a variety of topics in the same university space where students would eventually present their own CPAR work. Students were encouraged to engage with the presenters, asking questions not only about the presentations specifically but about the research process generally. The EL Cohort attended a similarly structured conference that incorporated specific language-related scaffolding and emphasized topics most applicable to EL students. These conferences allowed students to see themselves as participants in scholarly spaces and capable of engaging in complex, relevant academic work. See Adaptable Methods: Performances of Possibility.
Problem Tree
This visually analytic activity helps students explore the connections between problems, symptoms, and root causes. For an overview of how to create problem trees, see this presentation.
Writing Narrative
It is a common practice in HA classrooms for students to write extended personal narratives once they settle on their research topics. We often use a version of this personal narrative analysis assignment as a way to bridge personal writing and analysis, leading into the “generating a structural analysis” phase. An example of narrative analysis can be found here.
Overall, this phase is about putting one’s own story into a larger context and getting into dialogue with the world. The “generating a structural analysis” phase is one of the most recursive in the trajectory of CPAR. Students might visit this phase initially towards the beginning of the process, but then they will subsequently revisit it multiple times as they analyze research data or plan to present to the public. Ideally, students will gain a deeper understanding of how to search for their own resources as they move recursively through this process so that they truly learn how to inquire and search for knowledge in an increasingly independent way. Further, this phase prepares students to frame their research in Phase 3 by choosing a specific research focus based on their negotiations of their experiences, readings, and goals for reaching larger audiences through their research.
