Unraveling the Neocolonial Epistemologies: Decolonizing Research Toward Transformative Literacy

Abstract

As literacy research moves across physical and cultural boundaries, populations, languages, and so forth, current policies and practices influence new research with Indigenous populations. In the last Journal of Literacy Research (JLR) issue, Keehne, Sarsona, Kawakami, and Au (2018) raised many critical ideas and shared an indigenous framework about Hawaii schools to explore culturally responsive instruction. To extend a focus on Indigenous populations, we asked Bekisizwe Ndimande to address the question: "What should literacy researchers keep in mind when reading, reviewing, and engaging in studies using Indigenous research methods?"

Global Literacies Research Diversity: A Manifesto for Change

“…Such widespread underrepresentation can lead to the mischaracterization of non-Westerners as lacking or deficient-without regard to the limitations and ethics of doing so. In keeping with Indigenous ethics that value and expect community consultation and involvement, Ndimande (2018) suggested that literacy research "by" or "on" so-called others should instead engage with others' languages, and perhaps align with non-Western cultural norms and practices.…”

“…Certainly, literacy educational research journals such as JLR and RRQ are beginning to publish more articles offering sociocultural perspectives focused upon global issues, including global ethics and epistemologies, cosmopolitanism, transliteracies, bordercrossing, translanguaging, pluraversity, and global meaning-making (e.g., García & Kleifgen, 2020;Gutiérrez, 2008;Hull & Stornaiuolo, 2014;Kim, 2016;Lam et al, 2012;Ndimande, 2018;Perry, 2021;Rizvi, 2009;Stornaiuolo et al, 2017;Tierney, 2018bTierney, , 2020Wandera, 2020). Therefore, optimistically, I would suggest that changes are looming; as a critical global advocate, I would posit that we are not there yet.…”

Challenging Native Speakerism in Literacy Research and Education

“…Moreover, this oversight perpetuates a long-standing "common understanding which suggests that Asia and the Pacific are 'over there,' outside of and apart from what is considered 'American'" (Coloma, 2006, p. 11). Rendering invisible Asia, the Pacific Islands, and peoples of their diasporas contributes to the perseverance of an occidental perspective-one that undermines efforts to decolonize research and honor different ways of understanding the world (Ndimande, 2018).…”

Decolonizing Beginning Literacy Instruction: Views From Ugandan Teachers

“…Decolonizing education refers to critiquing and questioning colonizers’ views of what counts as knowledge, who gets to determine what is important to learn and how, and the dominance of western ways of education on indigenous peoples (Chilisa, Major, & Khudu‐Petersen, 2017; McGregor & Marker, 2018). It means understanding the historical issues in a community and inquiring about a group's perspectives of schooling and teaching (Ndimande, 2018). Ndlovu‐Gatsheni (2018) detailed how western education destroyed indigenous peoples’ ways of knowing and damaged indigenous languages and cultures, positioning itself as the maker of knowledge, demoting all other ways of knowing.…”