Beyond Recruitment: Developing Relational Pathways for Participation Through a Dance Club in Critical Engaging Participatory Action Research

This paper examines how a dance club functioned as a creative, embodied, and arts-based strategy to engage culturally diverse youth during the early familiarisation stage in a Critical Engaging Participatory Action Research (CEPAR). Conducted at a multicultural secondary school in Melbourne, Australia, the project centres the voices of second-generation African Australian (SGAA) students in rethinking what critical and transformative student engagement can look like in schooling. The paper focuses on the process of entering the research context as an outsider and the steps taken to invite young people into the study. In particular, it examines how the dance club emerged, developed and contributed to establishing a community-engaged relationship with young people. The paper outlines the familiarisation and recruitment stages, highlighting how communicative spaces were intentionally created to build trust, foster connection, and support participation. Rather than treating early research stages such as recruitment as a technical process, it is approached as a relational and evolving process grounded in care for participants’ needs and experiences. The Afro dance club provided a space of cultural recognition where students connected through movement, rhythm, and shared expression. Within this environment, participants and researchers co-constructed a sense of belonging, disrupted hierarchical dynamics, and created opportunities for student leadership and collaboration. Reflecting on this process, the paper identifies key lessons about the importance of trust-building, cultural relevance, flexibility, and the sensitivity and skill required to develop community-engaged partnerships with young people. It demonstrates how relational and arts-based strategies can create engaging pathways into research while supporting more equitable and authentic participation when conducting research with young people.