Collaborating with people to study "the popular": Implementing participatory action research strategies in religious education

This article seeks to describe the theoretical foundation upon which the au thor has pursued research into questions of how religious education could a nd should interact with popular culture. The methodology employed is most o ften labelled "participatory action research", and is used in an attempt to bring together the various disciplines of theology, psychology, media stud ies, and religious education into one conversation that sheds light on the dilemmas facing religious educators in a mass-mediated context. In many way s the choice of which methodology to use to pursue these questions has its roots in the situatedness of the author's own educational journey. Locating herself in a particular context leads into a discussion of the distinction s between "method", "methodology", and "epistemology"; and from there into a very brief consideration of "standpoint" epistemology and its utility in the convergence of feminist practice and religious educational practice. Fr om there her understanding of participatory action research, and how that m ethodology has worked to structure a collaboration with other religious edu cators around the use of media literacy within religious education is expli citly described.