Decolonizing Research Methodologies Research Articles

Braiding Designs for Decolonizing Research Methodologies: Theory, Practice, Ethics

Describing methodological design in decolonizing research as the intersection of theory, practice, and ethics, we share four focused micro-stories from our respective research projects. The metaphor of braiding represents the methodological design process within each of our research stories, significantly influenced by Dwayne Donald’s (2012) Indigenous métissage. Heather grapples with notions of reciprocity, Brooke considers the role of place in the construction of teacher identity, Marc engages with reworking photovoice, and Julia brings relationships with plants into her methodological design. Intentionally interrupting each other and ourselves, we feature the moments and movements of research design that are iterative, recursive, messy, and sometimes stuck, in contrast to the linear, untainted and dogmatic methodologies that assert themselves around us. Meanings and relationships may be produced in braiding our micro-stories together, exceeding what might be possible if they were presented separately. Readers may be invited into imagining the design of decolonizing methodologies beyond those we enacted.

Marking Indigeneity: The Tongan Art of Sociospatial Relations by Tēvita O Ka'ili

Reviewed by: Marking Indigeneity: The Tongan Art of Sociospatial Relations by Tēvita O Ka'ili Maggie Wander Marking Indigeneity: The Tongan Art of Sociospatial Relations, by Tēvita O Ka'ili. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2017. isbn 978-0-8165-3056-4, 180 pages, illustrations, appendix, notes, glossary, references, index. Cloth, us$50.00. In Marking Indigeneity: The Tongan Art of Sociospatial Relations, Tēvita O Ka'ili theorizes the practice of tauhi vā, or "mediating sociospatial conflicts," in the Tongan diaspora of Maui, Hawai'i. Ka'ili is an associate professor of cultural anthropology and Pacific Island studies at Brigham Young University-Hawai'i. His research engages with tensions between the fields of anthropology [End Page 554] and Indigenous studies, exploring potential contributions that both discourses can have on one another (see, for example, his essay in Anthropologists, Indigenous Scholars, and the Research Endeavour, edited by Joy Hendry and Laara Fitznor, 2012). Marking Indigeneity is an excellent example of his vision because it combines anthropological methods with Tongan methodologies and theoretical frameworks grounded in Pacific studies. In this way, it is an important contribution to decolonizing research methodologies espoused by scholars such as Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, 2012). Ka'ili uses the tā-vā theory of reality, introduced by anthropologist 'Ōkusitino Māhina, as a theoretical framework for understanding how Tongans negotiate life in Hawai'i. Using Māhina's theory, Ka'ili defines tā as "the beating of space," through "tempo, beat, pace, rhythm, and frequency" (25). Vā is the "relational space between two time markers" (26). The relationships that result from this intersection between tā and vā are made "harmonious" and "beautiful" when they are reciprocal, balanced, or symmetrical. In the case of Tongans on Maui, Ka'ili argues this symmetry is achieved by tauhi vā, "the art of creating and maintaining beautiful sociospatial relations (vā) through the mutual performances of social duties (fatongia)" (159). Maintaining these relationships, Ka'ili argues, is a way of "marking indigeneity" in the context of migration. The first chapter, "Mediating the Conflicting Times-Spaces of Maui," describes how "the beating of work-time often conflicts with the Tongan practice of marking time through the mutual performance of fatongia" (16). To combat the tensions between work-time and social duties (fatongia), Ka'ili argues Tongans in Maui "reconfigure" time-space by extending cultural events and gatherings into the night, often until the next morning. In this way, the time dedicated to tauhi vā is made symmetrical to the time dedicated to working, and Ka'ili argues this balance is integral to the harmony and beauty of sociospatial relationships. In later chapters, Ka'ili provides specific examples of how tauhi vā is enacted. Vahe, or the sharing of food, illustrates tauhi vā because "the mutual sharing of small but equal portions of food produces a beautiful kupesi" (91). Kupesi here indicates social patterns, and this beauty creates balance and social harmony. Another example is kaitaha, or eating gatherings, in which individuals share resources with one another. Celebrations such as birthdays and faka'osiako (graduation celebrations) are also instances of tauhi vā because they involve the reciprocal gifting of food, money, and koloa (treasured goods). The performance of fatongia at funerals is another type of tauhi vā because a person's presence at failotu (prayer vigils) and 'āpō (funeral wakes) shows mutual support for members of the community. All of these examples support Ka'ili's argument that tauhi vā can be understood as a performative art form. He likens the practice of tauhi vā to other Tongan arts such as tapa making, weaving, or singing. This is one of the book's most original [End Page 555] contributions because it complicates the distinction between artistic and social practices. We can understand tauhi vā, the mediation of social relationships, as a performative art that is as aesthetic as much as it is functional. In fact, these two qualities go hand in hand in the tā-vā theory of reality, in which the symmetrical marking of time in space creates beautiful social patterns. Chapter 4, "Researching as a Communal Concept and Practice," discusses Ka'ili's research method...

Culturally Relevant Physical Education: Educative Conversations with Mi’kmaw Elders and Community Leaders

This paper presents results from a recently completed inquiry that investigated culturally relevant physical education for Aboriginal students. Employing a decolonizing research methodology (storywork), we engaged seven Mi’kmaw Elders and three Mi’kmaw community physical activity/education leaders in conversations about culturally relevant physical education. Attending to Halas, McCrae, and Carpenter’s (2012) framework for culturally relevant physical education, we share our findings related to Mi’kmaw students and school communities. The results ought to be of notable interest to those who share an interest in culturally relevant pedagogy, physical education, and/or Aboriginal education.

Ancestral Knowledge Systems: A conceptual framework for decolonizing research in social science

Building on the seminal work of Linda T. Smith in decolonizing research methodologies, this paper introduces Ancestral Knowledge Systems (AKS) as a conceptual framework for social science research methodologies. We use autoethnography and critical self-reflection throughout the article to make visible the components of AKS. First, we lay out the context in which AKS was re-created after a doctoral course on decolonizing research methodologies. We unpack internalized colonization to address the need to go beyond identity politics and towards AKS thinking as an approach to promote a multiplicity of knowledge systems. Next, we discuss family epistemologies and collective memories as methods for reconnecting accountability systems to ancestral homeland(s). Finally, we discuss our visions for AKS across learning ecologies. The scholarly significance of our research is twofold: (1) it develops a framework for critical introspection and connectivity for decolonizing research, and (2) it promotes a multiplicity of knowledge systems in the academy.

Transformational Grounded Theory: Theory, Voice, and Action

Grounded theory has been evolving methodologically since Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss first described it in the late 1960s. Initially underpinned by modernist philosophy, grounded theory has had recent turns including the adoption of both constructivism and postmodernism. This article explores ontological offerings of critical realism as a basis for transformational grounded theory informed by participatory action research and decolonizing research methodologies. The potential for both theory and action to result from this critical grounded theory methodology, which promotes greater participation and equity of power for positive change, is the transformational in transformational grounded theory.

Lab Coats or Trench Coats? Detective Sleuthing as an Alternative to Scientifically Based Research in Indigenous Educational Communities

Amidst late 19th-century efforts to emphasize modern medicine’s transition to a more scientific approach, physicians seeking to represent themselves as scientists began wearing white laboratory coats. Today educational researchers are likewise urged to don metaphorical white coats as scientifically based research is held up as the cure-all for our “failing” schools. However, given science’s vital role in justifying and extending Western imperialism, for members of many indigenous communities, brown bodies and white coats are an uneasy fit. In answer to Linda Smith’s call for decolonizing research methodologies to remedy the distrust between indigenous peoples and scientific research, this article considers how educational research in indigenous and historically oppressed communities could be transformed by replacing the metaphor of the lab-coat-wearing scientific researcher with the trench-coat-clad detective or private eye.