Getting out of your own way: Faculty truly stepping aside for student-led community-engaged projects using PALAR

Academic institutions have always been seen as centers of education and knowledge production, but the information generated by each institution is usually siloed. To increase global competitiveness, especially in STEM, sharing knowledge across institutions is necessary. At inception, the central hypothesis was that an inter-institutional approach to educational transformation, one that was centered on democratizing the practice of innovation across institutional boundaries, would effectively prepare the next generation of innovators and engineers to address systemic and institutional racism and whiteness within STEM. One of the ways we wanted to tackle this was by student-led community engagement.

This inter-institutional student-led project is built on the Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) for Community Engagement theoretical framework through the four recurring stages of PALAR, plan-act-observe-reflect. The PALAR model offers an alternative learning paradigm compared with other informal learning systems. Faculty members are also process moderators who ensure that the learning for everyone is experiential, gradual, and systematic. PALAR allows the faculty researcher(s) to participate in action learning as a collaborator. A more 'equal' playing field is established through this relationship based on trust, accountability, and responsibility, which opens perspectives. In this model, the faculty researcher(s) critically reflect also on their learning and assumptions. This process builds subjectivity and opens the faculty researchers to become more open to learning from other team members.

The students are of all diverse backgrounds and disciplines of study. They are supported by one graduate research assistant who provides a connection to two faculty members, one each from the HCBU and PWI and community members. In addition, an undergraduate research assistant is dedicated to research, helping faculty to interpret the students' interactions and impacts on each other and the community. The PALAR framework encourages faculty researchers to exercise little power by turning to guidance instead of authority.