Power-Sharing Partnerships: Teachers’ Experiences of Participatory Methodology

Background: This article reports on the experiences of teachers as coresearchers in a long-term partnership with university researchers, who participated in an asset-based intervention project known as Supportive Teachers, Assets and Resilience (STAR). In an attempt to inform participatory research methodology, the study investigated how coresearchers (teachers) experienced power relations. We utilized Gaventa’s power cube as a theoretical framework and participatory research as our methodologic paradigm.

Method: Ten teachers of a primary school in the Eastern Cape and five teachers of a secondary school in a remote area in the Mpumalanga Province in South Africa participated (n = 15). We employed multiple data generation techniques, namely Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) activities, observation, focus group discussions, and semistructured interviews, using thematic analysis and categorical aggregation for data analysis.

Results: We identified three themes, related to the (1) nature of power in participatory partnerships, (2) coresearchers’ meaning making of power and partnerships, and their (3) role in taking agency.

Conclusion: Based on these findings, we developed a framework of power sharing partnerships to extend Gaventa’s power cube theory. This framework, and its five interrelated elements (leadership as power, identifying vision and mission, synergy, interdependent role of partners, and determination), provide insight into the way coresearchers shared their experiences of participatory research methodology. We theorise power-sharing partnerships as a complimentary platform hosting partners’ shared strengths, skills, and experience, creating synergy in collaborative projects.