In this class, we did Participatory Action Research (PAR) on the Waterville Revitalization project through the lens of social class.\u00a0 Participatory Action Research is not just research.\u00a0 In the name, you can see that it is participatory.\u00a0 This means that we walked around downtown and on campus and, spoke to the individuals who are directly involved, and who are directly impacted by the project.\u00a0 We trusted them as experts in their own experience in Waterville.\u00a0 Secondly, this research involves action.\u00a0 We are proposing specific action steps, developed through our research.\u00a0 We ask you all to consider your actions as well.<\/p>\n
We come to this project with a lens of critical consciousness. \u00a0Critical consciousness means being actively critical, even of the things that you love, and looking for ways to make them even better.\u00a0 Critical consciousness means recognizing that we live in an imperfect world, then finding ways to change these things and putting change into action.\u00a0 Know that when we are critical of this project, we are advocating for change, and we have specific suggestions to put this change into action.<\/p>\n
The Waterville Revitalization project is not a black and white issue. \u00a0We aren\u2019t deciding whether this project is going forward or ending abruptly, and we can’t tell you if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.\u00a0 What we are learning is how we can make this project the best for everyone in our community.\u00a0 We want you to leave thinking about how we can make food more accessible for every person in the community, or how we can make a downtown dorm a positive for everyone who interacts with it, and how this can have a positive economic impact on the entire community.<\/p>\n
In order to make this the best for our community, we need to address the variety of perceptions of the project that we have encountered. \u00a0These perceptions vary drastically, and although we may hold our own opinions, we must realize the influences that social class and other factors have on these perceptions, and seek to understand how members of our community came to these ideas.<\/p>\n
As you encounter our projects about Waterville Revitalization, remember to be critical, and remember the nuances.\u00a0 Ask questions, give feedback, and join us in this community conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this class, we did Participatory Action Research (PAR) on the Waterville Revitalization project through the lens of social class.\u00a0 Participatory Action Research is not just research.\u00a0 In the name, you can see that it is participatory.\u00a0 This means that we walked around downtown and on campus and, spoke to the individuals who are directly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4673,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"content-sidebar","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/off-the-hill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/off-the-hill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/off-the-hill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/off-the-hill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4673"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/off-the-hill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/off-the-hill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/off-the-hill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57\/revisions\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/off-the-hill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}