Maren Kristin SeehawerMF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society · Department of Social Sciences
Maren Kristin Seehawer
PhD
Looking for reflections and contributions to our project "What would a decolonised thesis look like?"
About
8
Publications
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Introduction
What kind of education is good education? Whose knowledge(s) should children learn and to what kind of “development” should quality education contribute? How can we disrupt internalised colonial notions of education equalling European Education? These are some of the questions that motivate my work.
More here: https://whatkindofeducation.com/
Additional affiliations
September 2013 - January 2020
Position
- PhD Student
Description
- Teaching in the Master programme on Multicultural and International Education (MIE): Introduction to Multicultural and International Education, Philosophy of Science and Research Methods, Human Rights, Languages and Education,
Education
September 2013 - September 2021
October 2009 - September 2010
October 2002 - January 2009
Publications
Publications (8)
In our paper we contrast the idea(l) of an educaKon that aims at community and planetary wellbeing with the current educaKonal reality in South Africa. Drawing on our iniKaKves to integrate local indigenous knowledges (including use of home language) with the Western curriculum we address the quesKon how to approach educaKonal transformaKon despite...
Building on an understanding of transformation that derives from the Southern African paradigm of Ubuntu, we share four South African science teachers’ experiences with transformative learning through participatory action research (PAR). We first provide insights into the transformative learning process that involved a gradual shift from focusing o...
In this chapter, we argue that instrumentalising indigenous methodologies for the Sustainable Development Agenda is strictly spoken impossible. We discuss the nature of indigenous ways of knowing and the encompassing worldview of Ubuntu which rests on the understanding of the interconnectedness of all life; that seeks harmony with nature and the we...
The article aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on quality education with regard to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4. The authors suggest that heterogeneity and plurality of epistemologies in Sub-Saharan African classrooms are not drawbacks, but important resources with regard to both student learning and sustainable development. The major...
Framed within the broader discourse on decolonising African education, this article aims to contribute to the project of integrating indigenous and Western knowledges in southern African education. Following a participatory action research (PAR) cycle, a team of five South African science teachers and one German researcher explored whether and how...
In all parts of the world, researchers are addressing the colonial legacy of research. This article aims to contribute to the decolonisation of research in a sub-Saharan African context by exploring Ubuntu as an indigenous Southern African research paradigm. Drawing on lessons learnt from participatory action research with South African science tea...
It is common for indigenous knowledge (IK) researchers in South Africa to conduct studies within conventional Western paradigms, especially in the field of IK–science curriculum integration. The scientific paradigm usually takes precedence and research publishing follows the rules of the academy. There is an inherent paradox in this practice. An en...
Questions
Question (1)
Goal: As we become increasingly aware of the prevailing coloniality of much academic knowledge production and as many researchers are attempting to decolonise our methodologies and theoretical frameworks, one question usually still remains unaddressed: How do we write up (or present otherwise) our research in a decolonised manner?
Pursuing and obtaining a Masters Degree or, even more so, a PhD is an initiation rite into a community whose centre lies in the global North and whose practices are governed by "Western" ways of producing and presenting knowledge. Most often, also (attempted) decolonial research projects end up as conventional theses, following template-like rigid structures that are tailored to present one specific form of knowledge; that kind of academic knowledge that currently dominates academia.
This project asks: What would a decolonised thesis look like? The question does not imply that a decolonised thesis SHOULD per definition look entirely different. Rather, it invites reflections on format, templates and structures, on the use of theory, "findings" and "contributions". How could the outcomes of research be written up or presented in line with the epistemological assumptions that govern the research, rather than submitting to so-called international rules that are dictated by "Western" academic conventions?
We invite everyone to contribute with ideas, reflections, questions and suggestions!
Projects
Projects (3)
As we become increasingly aware of the prevailing coloniality of much academic knowledge production and as many researchers are attempting to decolonise our methodologies and theoretical frameworks, one question usually still remains unaddressed: How do we write up (or present otherwise) our research in a decolonised manner?
Pursuing and obtaining a Masters Degree or, even more so, a PhD is an initiation rite into a community whose centre lies in the global North and whose practices are governed by "Western" ways of producing and presenting knowledge. Most often, also (attempted) decolonial research projects end up as conventional theses, following template-like rigid structures that are tailored to present one specific form of knowledge; that kind of academic knowledge that currently dominates academia.
This project asks: What would a decolonised thesis look like? The question does not imply that a decolonised thesis SHOULD per definition look entirely different. Rather, it invites reflections on format, templates and structures, on the use of theory, "findings" and "contributions". How could the outcomes of research be written up or presented in line with the epistemological assumptions that govern the research, rather than submitting to so-called international rules that are dictated by "Western" academic conventions?
We invite everyone to contribute with ideas, reflections, questions and suggestions!
A participatory action research project with science teachers from the Eastern Cape, South Africa
South African learners come from culturally diverse backgrounds. In many homes, indigenous knowledges that differ from school taught Western science are alive. The South African curriculum expects science teachers to include indigenous knowledges into their lessons. However, teachers receive little guidance on how this could be done. This doctoral research project aims to generate practical knowledge on how different knowledges can be integrated into science teaching, what challenges this might entail and how these challenges can possibly be overcome. The project also asks about strengths and weaknesses of indigenous and Western knowledges and what the different knowledge systems can learn from each other.
This project is just beginning although we have had one seminar within our university. Next year we hope to find out what this concept means to different interest groups and how we can plan to research and implement some of the pressing calls to action.
