1. Reflection on Education Practice
It becomes necessary that as we contribute to the development of working class, and broader social, organisations and movements, which are informed by a particular social, political, economic agenda, it is necessary that we ensure that such process of development is supported and nurtured by fundamental building tools.
Education is one of those fundamental building tools. But it must be an education that has at least 3 fundamentals :
- Relevant knowledge, information that are drawn from experience and study
- Critical thought and analysis, that contributes to independent perspectives
- Practical application of such knowledge and perspectives which engage with the realities and challenges, and which encourage the search for viable, ‘home-grown’ solutions.
But education can become stifling, conformist, ordinary, and far removed from the reality – too class-roomed based. The resources expended in running workshops, conferences, seminars, should be yielding greater results in the fight against oppression, exploitation and other social evils that are prevalent – there is too much power and resources in the hands of a few.
2. The Place of Research
Of course, education is largely informed and supported by information, experience, practice, skills, knowledge. All of this is drawn in one way or the other, in some form, by the collection of data or by research.
In our everyday lives, data is collected and used to inform our decisions, our behaviour, our choices – but this ‘collection of data’ is done informally, casually and without proper assessment of whether it is accurate, neither do we engage in meaningful analysis of such data. We respond to issues that confront us in the community, at work, in our organisations, or in the broader society, more by instinct, experience or superficial information, and this becomes our practice that continues to yield short-term solutions and results.
At the other end of the spectrum is academic, classical research. Such research is well-constructed, informed by strict academic rules and practice, and is able to withstand rigourous, critical scrutiny. The conduct of such research can be done by those who have been thoroughly schooled in the theory and practice.
However, such research is mainly done for policy formulation and is rarely used in a way that brings about practical solutions and responses. Quite often the research reports and findings are commissioned for particular purposes or interests, and often are not acted upon. Sometimes this is as a consequence of those who have commissioned the research are not content with the findings / recommendations, or not able to interpret or apply the findings, or the research was done for research sake.
3. Towards an integrated education – research approach – Action Research
Education and research complement each other, although too often they both sit apart. The one being too classroom based, education, and the other being too academic, research. Both supposedly speak to the human condition, and yet the plight of the masses remains desperate – what does this say about education and research, and the organisations and institutions that promote and practice it, and the individuals who champion them?
The idea of action research maybe a possible solution to bringing both education and a form of research closer together is a concept that is not new. There are international references and practices that set out its principles, form and practice, but the fundamental concepts and approaches of action research are the following :-
The workplace as a site of struggle – this is where the true power lies, not in the relationship with management, or in the engagement in some capitalistic, or neo-liberal, enterprise, but in the fact that this is where the membership is, the working class, the union! And it is in the workplace that the primary site where the capitalist principles, policies and agenda play themselves out – it is one of the primary sources of wealth and income generation, and capitalist accumulation – it needs to be engaged!
But we need to gather information about the current situation within the workplace such as:
- how are the production forces functioning,
- what are the power relations that exist within different workplaces,
- how does the neo-liberal agenda play itself out,
- what access do workers and their representatives have to information about the workplace,
- what are the financial and economic strategies of ownership,
- who owns and controls the workplace,
- what are the levels of consciousness of workers,
- who dictates the conditions of employment,
- how do workers relate to management,
- what influence do workers have on decision-making
And who better to gather such information than the shopstewards and workers – together with the educator, a plan is developed as to what information needs to be gathered from different workplaces; this would be dependent on the nature of the workplace, the sector (private, public, informal), the issues that are predominant, etc.;
How is this information gathered – through focus groups, observation, questionnaires, dependent on the dynamics of the workplace and the capacity of the shopstewards; the information is gathered in phases, dealing with a topic at a time, in order of priority, determined by the shopstewards and workers; the process of recoding such information either by writing in diaries / note-books, use of tape recordings, gathering of documents, verbal reports;
When the information is gathered, in stages, it has to be documented in a form that allows reflection and assessment of the issues / problems and their causes – this should then lead to determining whether more information is needed;
The reflection ideally should happen with the union concerned, and may result in either :-
- A realisation that education is needed in some instances as a result of lack of capacity;
- The development of a strategy to engage with the issues at the workplace;
- The need to do some in-depth research which may need researchers to be involved.
This cycle continues : further planning, gathering of information, assimilating such information, responding to issues raised.
The outcomes :
- Insights into conditions relating to the workplaces
- Awareness, conscientisation of the workers involved in the project
- Ownership of the process by the union and its representatives
- Education programmes that become informed
- Development of strategies at the workplace level
- Greater visibility of trade union action
4. Developing research capacity & projects
If we accept the role of research in consolidating both the education practice and constructing practical responses to challenges facing the working class and broader civil society, then we need to develop such capacity. This needs to be done by way of conducting research capacity courses and workshops which in turn have a link to practical research projects.
Such research projects can be developed :
- according to the needs of the organisations that wish to collaborate with the Workers’ College
- as a result of the Workers’ College’s own identification of where research is needed
- by collaborating with research organisations that may have projects which need capacity.
It is also apparent that a number of our comrades who have completed the IWLP degree have acquired basic knowledge and experience in research methods. Whilst a number of these comrades are no longer with the trade union movement, some have remained and others are in organisations that still service and support trade unions and civil society organisations. They can form the core of a pool of researchers that can be further developed and who can then embark on action research and research projects.
The development of research capacity can also be extended to the diploma students and other interested activists.
5. Structure
In establishing such Action Research Unit, it would be necessary to ensure that the following is in place :
5.1 Funding – initially, this can be drawn from a number of the existing Workers’ College programmes – RPL, ALEN, RLS, Diplomas and IWLP – this could provide support for at least 1-year for the contracting of research coordinator(s), the developing of materials, the embarking on small projects, and the covering of related expenses;
5.2 Research Coordinator(s) – the role of such person(s) is to develop the action research practice, design research workshops, oversee and coordinate action research and other research projects, collaborate with other research organisations, develop a resource base for research, and coordinate such activities together with the Director;
5.3 Potential researchers – these can be recruited from the IWLP students, diploma students and other interested activists, and will form the poll of researchers that will embark on the various projects;
5.4 Space within the College – there already exists space within the College for such a unit to operate, and other expenses could be covered by existing projects;
5.5 Schedule of work – a schedule of the implementation of this proposal and a time frame will be developed to ensure its proper roll out and at different points, evaluating its efficiency and effectiveness;
5.6 Outcomes – some of the outcomes will include :
- Strengthening the human resource capacity of unions and civil society organisations
- Tackling practical issues confronting these organisations, especially at workplace and community levels
- Production of knowledge and information that can generate debate and strategic intervention and contribute to broader practices and discourse
By Kessie Moodley 2008
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