The whyPAR Podcast - podcast cover

The whyPAR Podcast

The Youth Research Lab @ OISE, U of Tpodcasters.spotify.com
The whyPAR Podcast is a podcast where youth participatory action research (YPAR) practitioners discuss the ethical dimensions of conducting YPAR. In this podcast, we explore issues of co-leading YPAR projects, building relationships, power dynamics, and sharing our work together. We ask practitioners to consider the ethical commitments that guide their work, as they push against structures, and reach towards new futures. The whyPAR Podcast is based out of the Youth Research Lab at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in the University of Toronto.

Episodes

“Creating joyful resistance in communities”: On Visual Participatory Methods with Casey Burkholder

This episode features Dr. Casey Burkholder, with podcast host, Dr. Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández. In this conversation, Casey shares about her experience doing participatory visual research with queer and trans communities in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. She also tells us about her work with teacher candidates in New Brunswick, where she thinks alongside classroom educators about sex education in schools. Casey shares valuable insights about the power of the v...

Jun 13, 202439 min

“People who live in their neighbourhoods know it better”: On community engaged and participatory urban planning research with Dr. Aditi Mehta

This episode features Dr. Aditi Mehta, Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Toronto, and podcast host Dr. Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández, Professor and Director of the Youth Research Lab here at OISE. Drawing on her diverse experiences conducting PAR neighbourhoods in the USA and Canada, Dr. Mehta reflects on the politics of knowledge production and dissemination within contexts of urban community development and public health. Together, they discuss the dynamics of community co...

Jul 06, 202342 min

“There’s no one way to do this”: On youth-adult partnerships and embracing complexity, a conversation with Sharif Mahdy, Stoney McCart, Kwaku Agyemang, and Maddy Ross

This episode features Sharif Mahdy, Stoney McCart, Kwaku Agyemang from the Students Commission of Canada (SCC) and podcast host Maddy Ross. In this conversation, they reflect on how the SCC’s origins at a national youth conference in 1991 helped to shape four core values, referred to as the Four Pillars, as a process for youth engagement. Drawing on these Four Pillars - Respect, Listen, Understand and Communicate™️ - as a research framework, they discuss the dynamics of producing knowledge throu...

May 12, 202328 min

“Not everything can be fully participatory, right?”: On "True" PAR, A Conversation between Aurora Santiago-Ortiz and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández

This episode features conversation between Dr. Aurora Santiago-Ortiz, Assistant Professor of Gender and Women studies the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with podcast host Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández, a Professor here at OISE, the Director of the Youth Research Lab, and one of the Co-Producers of The WhyPAR podcast. In this episode, Aurora and Rubén discuss the principles that constitute “pure” PAR, and how principles of PAR can be adapted across diverse contexts. They discuss themes including ...

Aug 15, 202246 min

“What happens when you run onto the edges of progressivism?”: On Conducting YPAR in Elite Schools, A Conversation Between Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández and Leila Angod

This episode features conversation between Dr. Leila Angod, Assistant Professor in the Childhood and Youth Studies Program at Carleton University, and a former postdoctoral fellow at the Youth Research Lab with podcast host Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández, a Professor here at OISE, the Director of the Youth Research Lab, and one of the Co-Producers of The Why PAR podcast. In this episode, Leila and Rubén discuss the challenges of doing YPAR within the context of elite institutions. They discuss theme...

Mar 01, 202240 min

“Art Is Research”: On Knowledge from Identity and Place - A Conversation between Maddy Ross and Artist-Researchers Pree Rehal, Bert Whitecrow, Ayrah Taerb, Ammarah Syed, and Jahmal Nugent

This episode features five artist-researchers from the Making With Place Research Project (MWP), a collaborative initiative in T’karonto between York University graduate students Charlotte Lombardo and Phyllis Novak and SKETCH, an award-winning community arts program. Pree Rehal, Bert Whitecrow, Ayrah Taerb, Ammarah Syed, and Jahmal Nugent are all established young artists who came together during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore and create placemaking art installations and activations. MWP rece...

Nov 11, 202136 min

“How to Empower Themselves in an Industry Not Meant for Them”: On Community-Engaged Programming with Lil Sis (Alma Ahmed, Suzanna Maharaj, Rayan Saied, Belul Kidane, and Kamilah Apong) and Naima Raza

This episode features conversation between the Lil Sis team - Alma Ahmed, Suzanna Maharaj, Rayan Saied, Belul Kidane, and Kamilah Apong- and podcast host Naima Raza. In this episode, Lil Sis and Naima discuss community-engaged youth research and programming. They discuss the need for arts-based programming for queer and racialized youth in Regent Park; the importance of community-based research; and how Lil Sis branding challenges heternormativity in the Toronto Arts scene. ALMA AHMED: from a sp...

Oct 27, 202137 min

“Now that we were conducting the research, it felt more like power“: On Doing YPAR Before and During COVID-19 - A Conversation between Maddy Ross and youth researchers at the Youth Research Lab

This episode is the second in a two-part series featuring conversations between the WhyPAR Podcast’s new co-host, Maddy Ross and five youth researchers: Valeria Pineda, Lainey Rios, Luisa Gonzalez, Jaden McGregor, and Annie Silva. In this episode, the five youth researchers discuss their most recent YPAR project conducted in the summer of 2020 that explored the experiences of Indigenous and Latinx youth living in Tkaronto during the COVID-19 pandemic. Valeria Pineda (she/her) I am 21 years old a...

Oct 06, 202133 min

“If we really learned like this in school, school would be so much better”: On Building Generative Classrooms - A Conversation Between Maddy Ross and youth researchers at the Youth Research Lab

This episode is the first in a two-part series featuring conversations between the WhyPAR Podcast’s new co-host, Maddy Ross and five youth researchers: Valeria Pineda, Lainey Rios, Luisa Gonzalez, Jaden McGregor, and Annie Silva. In this episode, the five youth researchers reflect on their experiences in a school-based YPAR project, Youth Solidarities Across Boundaries (YSAB), a collaboration between the Urban Indigenous Education Centre (UIEC) of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and the...

Oct 04, 202135 min

“Getting to the point where we erase the Y the P and the A”: A Conversation Between Nicole Mirra, Antero Garcia and Melanie Bertrand

This episode is the first featuring conversation between Mel Bertrand, Nicole Mirra, and Antero Garcia. In this episode, Mel, Nicole, and Antero discuss ethical commitments and dissemination of youth knowledge while conducting YPAR. They discuss the opportunities and tensions of conducting YPAR within schools; and how YPAR must both expand the definition of what counts as research and also serve purpose beyond academia; the tensions of conducting YPAR when its’ labour benefits adults. Nicole Mir...

Mar 30, 202138 min

“Beauty emerges out of commitment”: How Youth Collectives Create Beauty, A Conversation Between Rangoato Hlasane and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández

This episode is the third in a three-part series featuring conversations between Rangoato Hlasane and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez. Rangoato Hlasane from the Keleketla! Library and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez discuss how youth collectivities create beauty, and specifically, within Ra’s program, the Keleketla! Library in Johannesburg, South Africa. Keleketla is a library and media arts project co-founded by Ra that was formerly based at Johannesburg’s historic Drill Hall (2008-2015) and is now based...

Mar 02, 202128 min

"It wasn't about being an artist, it was about getting together": On Building Youth Collectivities, A Conversation Between Rangoato Hlasane and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández

This episode is the second in a three-part series featuring conversations between Rangoato Hlasane and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez. Rangoato Hlasane from the Keleketla! Library and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez discuss the process and importance of building youth collectivities, and specifically, within Ra’s program, the Keleketla! Library in Johannesburg, South Africa. Keleketla is a library and media arts project co-founded by Ra that was formerly based at Johannesburg’s historic Drill Hall (2008-...

Mar 02, 202123 min

"A space that belongs to the city, but is being neglected by the city": On The Geographies of YPAR, A Conversation Between Rangoato Hlasane and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández

This episode is the first in a three-part series featuring conversations between Rangoato Hlasane and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez. Rangoato Hlasane (Ra) from the Keleketla! Library and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez discuss how YPAR plays out in marginalized geographies, and specifically, in Ra’s context of the Joubert Park neighbourhood in Johannesburg, South Africa. In this episode, they will discuss Keleketla!, a library and media arts project co-founded by Ra that was formerly based at Johannesbu...

Mar 02, 202125 min

“We don't talk about the work without the youth researchers”: On Ethical Commitments and the Politics of Dissemination (Part Two)

Sarah Switzer and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto discuss the dissemination of youth knowledge in youth participatory action research (YPAR). They discuss the opportunities and tensions around knowledge dissemination; honouring youth voices while navigating the politics of dissemination within academic spaces; the importance of relevant and meaningful products; and building collective capacity in youth and adult research...

Jan 11, 202130 min

“It’s all about your relationships”: On Ethical Commitments and the Politics of Dissemination (Part One)

Sarah Switzer and Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto discuss ethical commitments while conducting youth participatory action research (YPAR). They reflect on the importance of relationships while conducting YPAR; the challenges and opportunities faced while conducting YPAR across different settings such as schools and community health centres; participants’ motivations for involvement; and the ethical commitments that guide...

Dec 28, 202033 min
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