Thought Space Wānanga—A Kaupapa Māori Decolonizing Approach to Research Translation

Abstract

This paper discusses an indigenous Māori approach, named Thought Space Wānanga, for sharing knowledge and accelerating the translation of research into practical outcomes through transformational practices, policies, and theory development. In contexts such as New Zealand, there is an increasing demand on all publicly funded researchers to demonstrate the impact of their research and to show pathways for achieving social and economic outcomes from single, focused projects. Knowledge translation is the most common term used to describe the link between research and impact and the process of turning research into results. While it is highly debatable whether planning for this at the front end of research will necessarily lead to such high-level outcomes being achieved, many indigenous researchers aim for their research to be translated into real world positive outcomes for indigenous communities. Thought Space Wānanga is a facilitated process framed within Māori cultural protocols, designed to help indigenous Māori researchers meet that aspiration.

Wānanga as a research methodology

“…As a verb, “wānanga” is something you do—a dialogue or group conversation on any number of issues deemed relevant to the collective. Wānanga, then, can be used for various purposes, but most often works to compose and shape knowledge in a chorus of intention, wherein participants can “engage in active and collective thinking and problem solving; not just ‘talk’” (Smith et al, 2019, p. 5). Historically, whare wānanga specialised in specific areas of knowledge from cultivation and weaving to carving, building, and warfare, including the formulated learning and recitation of whakapapa (genealogies), incantations, and explicit esoteric explanations of life and the natural world.…”

“…But this pedagogical emphasis, he notes, was not merely a “‘whakairo’ of the material and tangible, but a whakairo of the mind” (Ngata, 2014, para.1). For many, these schools of learning were seen as “extremely sacred” institutions which were “separated into different schools of instruction” (Robust, 2006, p. 12; Smith et al, 2019, p. 80). These houses of learning, dedicated to specific areas of expertise, also divided themselves between the upper or higher (formal and esoteric) and lower (practical and common) forms of knowledge often referred to as te kauae-runga (the upper jaw) and te kauae-raro (the lower jaw).…”

“…It is precisely this emphasis on the needs, priorities, and knowledge base of the collective which forms a central value of wānanga as a culturally grounded and empowering research methodology. This re-centering, as Smith et al (2019) assert, enable wānanga to “disrupt and decolonize traditional western methods by positioning the collective production of knowledge as central, including knowledge translation, rather than just relying on research outputs and a repositioning of researcher/researched relationships” (p. 5).…”

“…There are various definitions and descriptions of wānanga. Some refer to wānanga as “seminars”, a “series of discussions”, a “thought space”, “meeting places”, and for others a “practice” (Simmonds, 2014, p. 87; Smith et al, 2019). The literature on wānanga is scant, yet stretches back over a century to Stephenson Percy Smith’s much referenced Lore of the Whare Wānanga (Smith and Whatahoro, 1913) in which he defined the wānanga as a “Māori College” wherein “learned men” imparted “ancient” knowledge (p. 1).…”

Using indigenous kaupapa Māori research methodology with constructivist grounded theory: generating a theoretical explanation of indigenous womens realities

“…Research has been a colonisation tool that shaped the construction of Indigenous peoples postsettlement and how they were subsequently understood (Archibald et al, 2019;Smith, 2012). Indigenous research methodologies challenge the dominance and traditions of Euro-Western thought that has influenced perceptions of Indigenous peoples and the conduct of research that marginalised them.…”