Cindy Hanson

Unpaid work and social policy: Engaging research with mothers on social assistance

The interlocking issues of gender, unpaid work and multiple forms of representation or lived experiences with social policy are complex. The study ‘Who Benefits: Women, Unpaid Work and Social Policy’, supported by Status of Women Canada, and guided by an advisory group consisting of women’s and anti-poverty organizations was based in Saskatchewan, Canada. The study interrogated how mothers on social assistance (SA) defined and understood unpaid caregiving work with small children; and the impact of social welfare policy guidelines that pushed SA recipients to find paid employment. Using action research and original, creative methods to gather data, the research simultaneously created a non-threatening environment for discussion, information-sharing, support and knowledge creation among participants. Overall, findings in the study resonate with other published studies on low-income women and unpaid work. Unique to this study particularly, were the action research process and outcomes which provided ways to address the needs of the study participants and to catalyze participant-led actions. The study assisted the 28 participants in linking their unpaid work with social policy and finally, in taking socio-political action. Actions included meetings with government, press conferences, and an uptake of recommendations by advisory group organizations. Independent of the research, the participants continued to meet after the study concluded.

Exploring Dimensions of Critical Reflection in Activist–Facilitator Practice

This article explores how 14 diverse, Canadian activist–facilitators working in international development experience and understand critical reflection as a component of participatory methodologies in facilitation practices. The findings, based on my doctoral study, demonstrate that although critical reflection is often discussed as integral to participatory approaches of facilitation using critical pedagogies, understandings and experiences of what that means in practice vary. For example, study participants often expressed practicing critical reflection through technical-rational approaches and seldom distinguished between critical reflection, reflexivity, and reflection. The findings illustrate three main challenges to applying critical reflection in practice: (1) time and value given to critical reflection; (2) institutional requirements; and (3) personal vulnerability. The results have implications for critical feminist pedagogies, including the development of critically reflective practices that challenge dominant ideologies and hierarchical power structures. The study demonstrates lessons for deepening pedagogical practices around critical reflection and reflexivity.

Toward transformative learning and a transnational feminist pedagogy : experiences of activist-facilitators working in development

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