No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Multiple ways of knowing: Teaching research under EPAS 2015
Abstract
Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) 2015 add new research requirements focusing on multiple ways of knowing and culturally informed approaches to knowledge building. These new requirements link to indigenous ways of knowing that orient the worldviews of many non-Western cultures. This article identifies key issues that distinguish culturally informed approaches to knowledge building from Western approaches. It provides an overview of a range of indigenous and culturally informed research principles. Two reflective examples of why and how these culturally informed methods are important to high-quality research are also presented. The examples show how different ways of knowing add to understanding and may enhance research usefulness.
This chapter explores EBP from three different perspectives: first, its application in practice decision-making; second, its use in defining health-care policy, costs, and administrative practices; and third, its impact on privileging certain research methods and research funding. EBP was initially developed to bring research evidence into treatment planning before treatments were begun, yet it has become a means to reshape professional autonomy and instead prioritize administrative authority. Research funding has also, and usefully, been shifted to support the knowledge base of EBP. At the same time, other types of research—qualitative, indigenous, and even exploratory and descriptive studies—have received lesser funding and have been somewhat delegitimatized by EBPs’ emphasis on experimental research outcomes. The EBP model, intended to support client decision-making, has often become bureaucratically standardized at policy and administrative levels.
This chapter explores opportunities and challenges in teaching evidence-based practice (EBP) and in supervising EBP in clinical practice. While support for teaching EBP is apparent, educators, administrators, and supervisors often work from different definitions of EBP and understand it in dissimilar ways. Educators and supervisors often conflate EBP with empirically supported treatments (ESTs), removing both client and clinician from their teaching emphasis. The complexity of practice is often standardized, omitting issues of human diversity, unique personal histories, and limitations of available resources. Suggestions for teaching and supervision are offered. Professional organizations endorse EBP but lack clear plans for promoting it in education and supervision.
The EBP practice decision-making process is implemented in six steps. This chapter outlines each of these six steps and their purposes. Following a thorough assessment, Step 1 is to identify practice information needs based on the assessment, Step 2 is to efficiently locate relevant information, Step 3 is to evaluate its quality and relevance to the specific client, Step 4 is to actively and collaboratively discuss the best available research results with the client, Step 5 is to collaboratively finalize a treatment plan, and Step 6 is to implement the treatment. The PICOT model, another model to conceptualize the clinician’s role in EBP, is also explicated. The hierarchy of research evidenced, drawn from evidence-based medicine, is introduced. The different logic and methods of EBP and of practice evaluation are examined. Resources for locating practice research are introduced. A clinical case example of the EBP process is provided.
Research undertaken by outsiders into issues of concern to Aboriginal communities frequently ignores community culture and the knowledge embedded within Aboriginal communities. Methodologies are adopted which perpetuate the colonialist mindset of non-indigenous Australians leading to failed solutions to Aboriginal problems. This paper describes an Aboriginal-led community-based research project, exploring the role of Aboriginal Australians in caring for, and transforming, their own communities. It focuses on the roles that Information Systems can play when providing an accessible platform for Aboriginal voices. The authors conducted an in-depth case study of one Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO), the Illawarra Koori Men’s Support Group (IKMSG). The research consisted of a social network analysis (SNA) of the inter-organisational links of the IKMSG; interviews and focus groups with members of the IKMSG and the co-design of their first website. The prominence of the IKMSG in the SNA maps suggests that its work in the community is highly respected and that the model produced by this research can act as a guide for success in other ACCOs. The findings have been used to develop a theoretical model of Aboriginal community engagement and intervention. This model can enable authentic outcomes to projects which address Aboriginal concerns and support the conduct of community-led research in Aboriginal communities.
This paper is about what has become known as religious conversion. Through the use of local accounts I shall attempt to reconstruct the scene in Iwan (an aboriginal village in Taiwan) when the first missionaries arrived. By relating events to the careers of particular characters I shall describe the ways in which Christianity was, and still is, being used in local political relationships. The emphasis here is very much upon local values and local dialogues and in this light entering Christianity is not so much a question of belief, psychological needs, or even religion. Rather it has always provided an idiom for describing and forming political alliances.
This paper seeks to heighten awareness about the need to include indigenous knowledge in the design and implementation of research, particularly disability research, in Africa. It affirms the suitability of the Afrocentric paradigm in African research and argues the necessity for an emancipatory and participatory type of research which values and includes indigenous knowledge and peoples. In the predominantly Western-oriented academic circles and investigations, the African voice is either sidelined or suppressed because indigenous knowledge and methods are often ignored or not taken seriously. This paper posits that to be meaningful and empowering, African-based research must, of necessity, include African thought and ideas from inception through completion to the implementation of policies arising from the research. In this way the work is both empowering and meaningful for context-specific lasting impact.
In 2001, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) adopted 10 discrete standards of culturally competent practice which undergird our commitment to diversity and social justice. The concept of intersectionality is newly emerging in social work, though, causing us to reflect on our current conceptualizations of cultural competence. According to this construct, in order to understand one aspect of the self, such as race, we have to understand how gender, ethnicity, sexuality, social class, and other markers influence one another. The authors present the concepts of cultural competence, social identity, and intersectionality in order to deepen our anti-oppression, social justice approach.
The increasing valorisation of Indigenous knowledges, methodologies and approaches to social work renders visible the inadequacy of western approaches to the praxis of research by non-Indigenous social workers researching with Indigenous peoples. Non-Indigenous social workers often are unaware of the colonising and racist assumptions underpinning the praxis of social work. Continuing current discussions on the decolonisation of social work, this paper contends that for non-Indigenous social workers embedded in the norms and assumptions of dominant western approaches, the quest to achieve justice and equity with Indigenous peoples using social work research, demands a paradigmatic shift. Transforming dominant knowledge and power relationships by prioritising the unique ontological, epistemological and axiological positioning of Indigenous peoples is required. We argue that this can be assisted by learning from Indigenous research approaches and reconceptualising critical social work research to re-centre its emancipatory values and political agendas.
Increasingly, understanding how the role of historical events and context affect present-day health inequities has become a dominant narrative among Native American communities. Historical trauma, which consists of traumatic events targeting a community (e.g., forced relocation) that cause catastrophic upheaval, has been posited by Native communities and some researchers to have pernicious effects that persist across generations through a myriad of mechanisms from biological to behavioral. Consistent with contemporary societal determinants of health approaches, the impact of historical trauma calls upon researchers to explicitly examine theoretically and empirically how historical processes and contexts become embodied. Scholarship that theoretically engages how historically traumatic events become embodied and affect the magnitude and distribution of health inequities is clearly needed. However, the scholarship on historical trauma is limited. Some scholars have focused on these events as etiological agents to social and psychological distress; others have focused on events as an outcome (e.g., historical trauma response); others still have focused on these events as mechanisms or pathways
Increasingly, understanding how the role of historical events and context affect present-day health inequities has become a dominant narrative among Native American communities. Historical trauma, which consists of traumatic events targeting a community (e.g., forced relocation) that cause catastrophic upheaval, has been posited by Native communities and some researchers to have pernicious effects that persist across generations through a myriad of mechanisms from biological to behavioral. Consistent with contemporary societal determinants of health approaches, the impact of historical trauma calls upon researchers to explicitly examine theoretically and empirically how historical processes and contexts become embodied. Scholarship that theoretically engages how historically traumatic events become embodied and affect the magnitude and distribution of health inequities is clearly needed. However, the scholarship on historical trauma is limited. Some scholars have focused on these events as etiological agents to social and psychological distress; others have focused on events as an outcome (e.g., historical trauma response); others still have focused on these events as mechanisms or pathways by which historical trauma is transmitted; and others have focused on historical trauma-related factors (e.g., collective loss) that interact with proximal stressors. These varied conceptualizations of historical trauma have hindered the ability to cogently theorize it and its impact on Native health. The purpose of this article is to explicate the link between historical trauma and the concept of embodiment. After an interdisciplinary review of the “state of the discipline,” we utilize ecosocial theory and the indigenist stress-coping model to argue that contemporary physical health reflects, in part, the embodiment of historical trauma. Future research directions are discussed.
This article describes an action research project undertaken in Australia to confront Eurocentrism in our social work curricula. Our aims, action, and reflections are discussed. Further, we explore the legitimacy of non-indigenous teachers taking action to reconcile indigenous knowledges in curricula. The findings have relevance for international social work education. Yes Yes
There is a long history of research with Indigenous peoples by outsiders, and many Indigenous communities have felt exploited. Terms such as drive-by research have been used, as well as expressions such as “we have been researched to death.” Anthropology itself has been accused of spying, and Vine Deloria asked anthropologists to “become productive members” in an Indigenous community “instead of ideological vultures” treating people as objects. A great many Indigenous communities and organizations are now requesting outside researchers to join their communities in a collaborative research partnership, and some have produced ethical principles for research highlighting this participatory relationship. In this article, I discuss some of this history and current direction, giving examples of Indigenous research partnerships and Indigenous research from the inside. Participatory research is extended beyond Indigenous communities to the social sciences, as positive outcomes are being seen across disciplines.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators in a new Northern Canadian BSW program experienced painful contradictions between the program's Indigenous values and the colonial, patriarchal nature of the academy. Could sharing circles be a way to decolonize and Indigenize the program? Guided by an Indigenist action research approach, 4 educators (2 Aninishinaabe-kwe, 1 Métis, 1 Euro-Canadian), participated in a sharing circle ceremony to gain a deeper understanding of their relationships to each other and the program. Through 4 subsequent (non-ceremonial) sharing circles, participant-researchers reflected on the data, resolved conflicts, and made space for collective action emerging from this process.
Overall, the sharing circle effectively disrupted and transformed power relations. Both internalized and externalized oppression were addressed as the circle equalized voices within the program and gave space for members to more fully claim their identities and engage their whole selves (including their spirituality). The ally also experienced deep growth and the ally role was strengthened. Faculty retention was another positive outcome. However, members also experienced increased conflict and structural resistance alongside these changes. These findings suggest sharing circles as a possible way for Indigenous educators and allies to create sacred space in academia, which works to decolonize social work education.
In this article, I locate myself as a PhD student, of Indigenous and Settler heritages, enrolled in a first-year epistemology course. Using reflexivity as an approach in qualitative research, I take the reader on a journey of the intricate workings of my spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical experiences stemming from my grappling with the meaning of epistemology and how learning about this impacts the perspective I have in my life, social work, and for my dissertation research. Learning about knowledge and how it is conceived, impacted, and transformed through the interaction with others raises many questions about how I have come to know what I know. A question remains as to what I will know at the end of my research.
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1473325016652674
Gaining access to Native American communities can be a major challenge for social work researchers. This paper discusses some of the reasons why access may be difficult and how researchers can begin to address these challenges. The principles of conducting culturally competent research in Native American communities are demonstrated using case examples. Examples illustrate techniques for soliciting and maintaining the cooperation of reservation and urban Native American communities for research projects. The challenges of conducting a large scale needs assessment with an off-reservation Native American population in an urban area are discussed.
In this article, Dolores Delgado Bernal outlines a Chicana feminist epistemological framework that is new to the field of educational research. This framework, which draws from the existing work of Chicana feminists, questions the notions of objectivity and a universal foundation of knowledge. A Chicana feminist epistemology is also grounded in the life experiences of Chicanas and involves Chicana research participants in analyzing how their lives are being interpreted, documented, and reported, while acknowledging that many Chicanas lead lives with significantly different opportunity structures than men or White women. As part of this framework, Delgado Bernal also introduces the concept of cultural intuition to name a complex process that acknowledges the unique viewpoints that many Chicana scholars bring to the research process. In the latter half of the article, she illustrates the importance of this framework in educational research by describing an oral history project on Chicana student resistance and activism as seen from this framework. Her conceptual discussion and research example together demonstrate that employing a Chicana feminist epistemology in educational research is one means of resisting traditional paradigms that often distort or omit the experiences and knowledge of Chicanas.
African immigrants have been largely excluded from research on issues confronting immigrants. This article reports the findings
from a 1993 study of African immigrants in the United States. Data collected from a survey of 52 African immigrants showed
significant relationships among stress, hardiness, self-esteem, spiritual well-being, and coping resources. Spiritual well-being
was significantly related to lower stress levels and to greater hardiness and self-esteem. Overall, results suggest that practitioners
need to pay attention to this population by examining the interactive processes of their experiences. Implications for research
and practice are presented.
Gaining access to Native American communities can be a major challenge for social work researchers. This paper discusses some of the reasons why access may be difficult and how researchers can begin to address these challenges. The principles of conducting culturally competent research in Native American communities are demonstrated using case examples. Examples illustrate techniques for soliciting and maintaining the cooperation of reservation and urban Native American communities for research projects. The challenges of conducting a large scale needs assessment with an off-reservation Native American population in an urban area are discussed.
Historically, many researchers whose sole purpose was to conduct research to further their own professional development have exploited Native Americans. Outside of participating as subjects, American Indians were rarely involved in the development of the research and the instrumentation or informed about the results. More recently, research has been conducted with Native Americans who have played a lead role in the research process emphasizing issues that have made important contributions to the American Indian community being studied. The authors utilize case studies and their own applied research experiences to illustrate how researchers, tribal members and organizations have worked together in the applied research process. In working with Native Americans, research takes on special importance emphasizing different values. Practical suggestions range from American Indian communities stimulating their own research agendas to involving community members in the interpretation of data to drive a more complete and accurate analysis and as a useful method for educating the community.
Traditionally, research in both adult education and social work fields have focused on cognitive ways of knowing. Although both disciplines have acknowledged other ways of knowing, there has been minimal focus on noncognitive ways of knowing, including embodied knowing. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how social workers incorporated embodied knowing into their social work practice. Ten social workers from a variety of settings were interviewed to understand how they learned to trust their bodies as a site of knowing and integrate embodied knowing into their social work practices. Using a feminist theoretical framework, findings indicated that participants embraced and trusted their embodied knowing as a valid source of knowledge. Participants identified internal reactions in social work interactions and described how they processed these somatic sensations to guide their practices. Implications for social work practitioners and social work and adult educators are discussed.
For too long, the histories, experiences, cultures, and languages of students of color have been devalued, misinterpreted, or omitted within formal educational settings. In this article, the author uses critical race theory (CRT) and Latina/Latino critical theory (LatCrit) to demonstrate how critical raced-gendered epistemologies recognize students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. In doing so, she discusses how CRT and LatCrit provide an appropriate lens for qualitative research in the field of education. She then compares and contrasts the experiences of Chicana/Chicano students through a Eurocentric and a critical raced-gendered epistemological perspective and demonstrates that each perspective holds vastly different views of what counts as knowledge, specifically regarding language, culture, and commitment to communities. She then offers implications of critical raced-gendered epistemologies for both research and practice and concludes by discussing some of the critiques of the use of these epistemologies in educational research.
While much attention has been paid to cultural competence in assisting clients, little has been directed to evaluating the degree to which social work education respects the cultural norms and values of students from diverse populations. A qualitative survey was used to explore the experiences of Native Americans in social work education. The amount of cultural content in social work education has increased in recent years, yet most respondents identified the need for more cultural material. Although there are struggles for non-Anglo students pursuing an education grounded in Anglo cultural norms, supports are sometimes available to balance them.
Indigenous communities have long experienced exploitation by researchers and increasingly require participatory and decolonizing research processes. We present a case study of an intervention research project to exemplify a clash between Western research methodologies and Indigenous methodologies and how we attempted reconciliation. We then provide implications for future research based on lessons learned from Native American community partners who voiced concern over methods of Western deductive qualitative analysis. Decolonizing research requires constant reflective attention and action, and there is an absence of published guidance for this process. Continued exploration is needed for implementing Indigenous methods alone or in conjunction with appropriate Western methods when conducting research in Indigenous communities. Currently, examples of Indigenous methods and theories are not widely available in academic texts or published articles, and are often not perceived as valid. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print May 16, 2013: e1-e8. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.301157).
What are Indigenous research methodologies, and how do they unfold? Indigenous methodologies flow from tribal knowledge, and while they are allied with several western qualitative approaches, they remain distinct. These are the focal considerations of Margaret Kovach's study,which offers guidance to those conducting research in the academy using Indigenous methodologies.Kovach includes topics such as Indigenous epistemologies, decolonizing theory, story as method, situating self and culture, Indigenous methods, protocol, meaning-making, and ethics. In exploring these elements, the book interweaves perspectives from six Indigenous researchers who share their stories, and also includes excerpts from the author's own journey into Indigenous methodologies. Indigenous Methodologies is an innovative and important contribution to the emergent discourse on Indigenous research approaches and will be of use to graduate students, professors, and community-based researchers of all backgrounds - both within the academy and beyond.
Indigenous peoples throughout the world have sustained their unique world views and associated knowledge systems for millennia. Many core values, beliefs, and practices associated with those world views have an adaptive integrity that is as valid today as in the past. However, traditional educational processes to transmit indigenous beliefs and practices have frequently conflicted with Western formal schooling and its world view. This paper examines the relationship between Native ways of knowing and those associated with Western science and formalized schooling in order to provide a basis for an education system that respects the philosophical and pedagogical foundations of both cultural traditions. Although examples are drawn from the Alaska Native context, they illustrate issues that emerge anywhere that efforts are underway to reconnect education to a sense of place. Elements of indigenous and Western world views are contrasted. Vignettes and examples depict the obstacles to communication between state agency personnel and local elders discussing wildlife and ecology issues; a cross-cultural immersion program for non-Native educators, held at a remote camp with Native elders as instructors; areas of common ground across world views; and indigenous implications for a pedagogy of place. Educational applications of four indigenous views are discussed: long-term perspective, interconnectedness of all things, adaptation to change, and commitment to the commons. (SV)
Specialized content about factors that influence the cultural identity of Native people must be included within the social work knowledge base to increase practitioners' effectiveness with this population. This article explores some of the factors which shape cultural identity for Native people and the implications of Native cultural identity for social work practice. The authors begin by recounting theoretical perspectives on culture, then report the findings of two studies that examine different factors which impact upon identity. The first study examines the impact of exposure to more than one culture on a sense of identity among Native youth in the Northeastern United States. The second study examines historical trauma and unresolved grief among the Lakota. Implications of multicultural exposure and historical unresolved grief for social work practice with Native people are discussed.
Years of Filipino-oriented research and investigation in psychology, history, anthropology, sociology and other social sciences have provided the basic materials and concepts which have been used to develop theories explaining the indigenous Filipino, counter-colonial, colonial and neo-colonial characteristics. Theoretical developments presented here cover: (a) levels of interaction in an individualist vs collectivist culture; stages of cultural domination, and (b) philosophy of science (levels of scientific validation).
Themes included in this chapter are: kapwa and the levels of social interaction (reclaiming Filipino concepts and models, Filipino indigenous methods, research as consciousness raising vs data gathering, research as facilitation, research as encounter); and relevance to Philippine realities (developing and strengthening the Filipino language, deconstructing Western concepts and models). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This entry includes the following topics: history; defining attributes; other attributes; measurement; antecedents; consequences; personality and situational factors; and applications of the constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Is science an invention of European thought, or have legitimate scientific bodies of knowledge and scientific ways of thinking emerged separately in other cultures? Can indigenous knowledge systems contribute to contemporary science teaching? Here we describe evidence from the Yupiaq culture in southwestern Alaska which demonstrates a body of scientific knowledge and epistemology that differs from that of Western science. We contend that drawing from Yupiaq culture, knowledge, and epistemology can provide not only a more culturally relevant frame of reference for teaching science concepts to Yupiaq students, but also a potentially valuable context for more effectively addressing many of the recommendations of U.S. science education reform initiatives. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 133–144, 1998.
The article highlights the realities and dynamics facing researchers researching indigenous African culture. The cultural aspirations, understandings, and practices of African indigenous people should position researchers to implement and organize the research process. Suggestions are also made for implementing the "Afrocentric method," and how to use African indigenous culture as a foundation for the Afrocentric method. The intent of this article is to stimulate enlightened discussion about the definition, mechanisms, and purpose of the Afrocentric method as an appropriate research method for indigenous African culture and how it can be used as a complement to qualitative research methods.
Drawing on experiences across Fourth World contexts, with an emphasis on the Alaska context, this article seeks to extend our understandings of the learning processes within and at the intersection of diverse worldviews and knowledge systems. We outline the rationale for a comprehensive program of educational initiatives closely articulated with the emergence of a new generation of Indigenous scholars who seek to move the role of Indigenous knowledge and learning from the margins to the center of educational research, thereby confronting some of the most intractable and salient educational issues of our times.
Young people have been at the forefront of political conflict in many parts of the world, even when it has turned violent. In some of those situations, for a variety of reasons, including coercion, poverty, or the seductive nature of violence, children become killers before they are able to grasp the fundamentals of morality. It has been only in the past ten years that this component of warfare has captured the attention of the world. Images of boys carrying guns and ammunition are now commonplace as they flash across television screens and appear on the front pages of newspapers. Less often, but equally disturbingly, stories of girls pressed into the service of militias surface in the media. A major concern today is how to reverse the damage done to the thousands of children who have become not only victims but also agents of wartime atrocities. In Child Soldiers in Africa, Alcinda Honwana draws on her firsthand experience with children of Angola and Mozambique, as well as her study of the phenomenon for the United Nations and the Social Science Research Council, to shed light on how children are recruited, what they encounter, and how they come to terms with what they have done. Honwana looks at the role of local communities in healing and rebuilding the lives of these children. She also examines the efforts undertaken by international organizations to support these wartime casualties and enlightens the reader on the obstacles faced by such organizations.
This exploratory qualitative study considers the subjective resettlement experiences of children forced into armed conflict in Northern Uganda from the perspectives of 11 former child combatants and 11 adult community members. A thematic analysis was performed on the narrative data. The bioecological model was used to provide a conceptual framework for key themes. Major findings included the overarching impact of ongoing armed conflict on returnees' lives, the important role of the family in supporting children's resettlement, the harassment of former child soldiers by community members, and the community's inability to support systematically the returning children in tangible ways. This study recommends that humanitarian services at all levels strengthen the capacity of families to care for the material and psychoemotional needs of former child soldiers within their communities.
Indigenous knowledge system and cross cultural research
- R Barnhardt
Indigenous knowledge & pedagogy in First Nations education: A literature review with recommendations. Ottawa: Ottawa Indian & Northern Affairs Canada
- M Batiste
Sharing our pathways: Native perspective on education in Alaska
- R Barnhardt
- Kawagley
Paradigms of African American research
- N Akbar
Indigenous psychology: A book of readings
- V G Enriquez
Is science multi-cultural?
- S Harding
Conducting research with American Indians: A case study of motives, methods, and results
- J Sobeck
- E Chapleski
- C Fisher
Including decolonization in social work education and practice
- A Tamburro