Lesley Wood Action Research

Although there has been substantial research conducted on equipping teachers to develop pedagogical content and strategies to address HIV and AIDS in the curriculum, the voices of children, for whom the pedagogy has been developed, have seldom been included in these studies. The danger of basing pedagogical interventions on the understandings of teachers, rather than of the children it is aimed at, is that the curriculum and teaching processes may not be deemed relevant by learners, resulting in lack of engagement in the learning experience. To be able to mediate appropriate HIV and AIDS education, teachers must also be enabled to explore their own narratives around HIV. The starting point of this
project is thus grounded in the imaginations, experiences, creativity, expressive potential, perspectives and conceptual frameworks of HIV and AIDS as expressed by both student teachers and high school learners. The project is envisioned as research as social change - not only will there be tangible development in the research and life skills of the participants, but the knowledge gained will enable them
to make a contribution to changing the stigmatized, racialized and oppressive views of HIV so prevalent in our communities. An emancipatory and participatory action research design, using visual methods to construct knowledge, is used to help participants explore their understandings of the pandemic from an intersectional and socio-historical perspective. It is important to enable prospective teachers to
encourage open dialogue around HIV and AIDS and related issues such as race, sexual orientation and other forms of diversity that are typically silenced in the classroom and school environment to enable the development of the "responsible citizens" described in education policy. NRF Project 2018-2020 Grantholder: L Wood