Friday (8/10) Center for Life-span Development (CLSD) opened the COMPRE (Contemporary Methods and Community-led Lifespan Development Research) class event. This event is a series of Photovoice training and community-led research practices for participants who are committed to participating in this event from beginning to end.
This event starts at 09.00 WIB until 12.30 WIB, then continues at 13.00 WIB until 15.00 WIB. Participants in this event were 24 people consisting of academics, teachers, and community activists who live in Yogyakarta.
The speakers at the opening ceremony were T. Novi Poespita Chandra, S.Psi., M.Sc., Ph.D., Psychologist, lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology UGM as well as the drafter of the Gerakan Sekolah Menyenangkan (GSM). In her presentation, Novi reviewed the philosophy of community-led research and the research ethics in it.
At the beginning of her presentation in the first session, Novi gave material that emphasized a lot about sense of urgency. Novi relates psychological theories to phenomena that are happening in everyday life today. With this, participants are invited to think critically and introspectively.
“Because I believe in any kind of knowledge, if it is not based on reasoning why, then we don’t know what the substance is for,” explained Novi.
In the first session, Novi played a video about changes in behavior and shifts in values in humans. This is due to the development of technology and the discovery of tools whose performance is able to serve humans in meeting their daily needs. Behind the convenience that is available, it also has the effect of increasing the need for connectivity, namely direct interaction between humans.
“It’s as if we are connected, connected faster in the wider world. But we actually don’t have any connection with the people close to us,” said Novi.
In community-led research, the spirit of connectivity and togetherness is highly upheld. Novi explained that to bring about change for the better, the efforts made together with the community will have a wider and sustainable impact. Therefore, researchers must have the awareness to be able to invite the public to carry out their research.
“It’s as if we still have thoughts, like my previous thought, that research belongs only to academics. In fact, research is a way of thinking,” explained Novi, emphasizing that this way of thinking is permissible and can be owned by anyone, both academic and non-academic.
In the second session, Novi discussed a lot about research methodologies and ethical principles of research, especially if the research was carried out together with children. In addition, Novi also provides examples of research involving children as social actors.