International scholars share their experiences with the challenges inherent in representing indigenous cultures and decolonizing cross-cultural research.

Drawing from their experiences in cross-cultural research, scholars from Africa, Latin America, Asia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and North America discuss their attempts to reclaim and reposition the representation of indigenous cultures in their work. They raise critical questions that resist the centrality of the English language as a medium of research and of the Western academy as the locus for knowledge production, reframe cross-cultural research agendas to include ways of knowing that have been excluded all too often, and offer creative ways of using cross-cultural collaboration.


"Work that explores decolonialism is absolutely needed. The strengths of this book include coverage of general postcolonial issues; the multiple and traveling positions, identities, and subjectivities that are experienced by postcolonial scholars; and the possibilities for reconceptualizing research as a movement toward decolonialism." — Gaile S. Cannella, coauthor of Childhood and Post-Colonization: Power, Education, and Contemporary Practice

"The authors make a number of major points about the nature of research, the subtle pervasiveness of dominance and power in education and educational settings, and the importance of multiple voices in ethnographic and qualitative research." — Frank C. Worrell, University of California at Berkeley


Contributors include Susan Matoba Adler, Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, Cynthia à Beckett, Leodinito Y. Cañete, Lisa J. Cary, Ellen Demas, Miryam Espinosa-Dulanto, Haoua M. Hamza, Dudu Jankie, Julie Kaomea, Kathryn Manuelito, Kagendo Mutua, Bekisizwe S. Ndimande, Carlos Ovando, Denise Proud, John Pryor, Haiyan Qiang, Cinthya M. Saavedra, Vilma Seeberg, Lourdes Diaz Soto, Beth Blue Swadener, and Geeta Verma.

Kagendo Mutua is Assistant Professor of Special Education at The University of Alabama. Beth Blue Swadener is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Arizona State University.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION
KAGENDO MUTUA, BETH BLUE SWADENER

PART I: Engaging/Performing Theories of Decolonizing Research

1. Dilemmas of an Indigenous Academic: A Native Hawaiian Story
JULIE KAOMEA

2. Silent Screams: Deconstructing (Academia) the Insider/Outsider Indigenous Researcher Positionalities
MIRYAM ESPINOSA-DULANTO

3. Performing Colonial and Postcolonial Science in India: Reenacting and Replaying Themes in the United States
GEETA VERMA

4. Always Already Colonizer/Colonized: White Australian Wanderings
LISA J. CARY

PART II: Critical Personal Narratives on Decolonizing Research Methodologies

5. "Tell me who you are": Problematizing the Construction and Positionalities of "Insider"/"Outsider" of a "Native" Ethnographer in a Postcolonial Context
DUDU JANKIE

6. Multiple Layers of a Researcher’s Identity: Uncovering Asian American Voices
SUSAN MATOBA ADLER

7. Decolonizing Research on Gender Disparity in Education in Niger: Complexities of Language, Culture, and Homecoming
HAOUA M. HAMZA

8. Education Research with Philippine Communities in Greece: Intricacies and Possibilities
LEODINITO Y. CAÑETE

PART III: Cross-Cultural Collaboration and Decolonizing Research

9. Fall from Grace? Reflecting on Early Childhood Education While Decolonizing Intercultural Friendships from Kindergarten to University and Prison
CYNTHIA À BECKETT, DENISE PROUD

10. Listening to Voices in the Village: Collaborating through Data Chains
JOHN PRYOR, JOSEPH GHARTEY AMPIAH

11. Ripple Effects: Fostering Genuine International Collaboration
VILMA SEEBERG, HAIYAN QIANG

PART IV: Complicating "Decolonizing" Education and Research: Challenges and [Im]possibilities

12. [Re]Anglicizing the Kids: Contradictions of Classroom Discourse in Post-Apartheid South Africa
BEKISIZWE S. NDIMANDE

13. (Re)conceptualizing Language Advocacy: Weaving a Postmodern Mestizaje Image of Language
ELLEN DEMAS, CINTHYA M. SAAVEDRA

14. An Indigenous Perspective on Self-Determination
KATHRYN MANUELITO

AFTERWORD
BETH BLUE SWADENER, KAGENDO MUTUA

EPILOGUE
CARLOS OVANDO

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

INDEX