| Session Title: Decolonized Evaluation in the Real World: Two Projects Walk the Talk in Native Hawaiian Communities |
| Multipaper Session 285 to be held in Room 110 in the Convention Center on Thursday, Nov 6, 10:55 AM to 12:25 PM |
| Sponsored by the Indigenous Peoples in Evaluation TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Alice J Kawakami, University of Hawaii, alicek@hawaii.edu |
| Discussant(s): |
| Karen E Kirkhart, Syracuse University, kirkhart@syr.edu |
| Jennifer Greene, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, jcgreene@uiuc.edu |
| Abstract: The process of decolonizing evaluation often leads to an empowerment model for indigenous communities and other 'colonized' populations conducted by and for its members. This two-paper session describes projects, in two Native Hawaiian communities, that were designed and implemented by Native Hawaiian professionals. The first paper describes the evaluation of an early childhood advocacy and networking program. The second paper describes an assessment and development of support initiatives in a program for recruitment, development, and retention of teachers from the community. Both presentations provide examples of community-based evaluation that honors and incorporates indigenous perspectives in the process of community development resulting in program features that perpetuate the culture and values of the communities for young children and adults. |
| How a Decolonized Evaluation Differed From Mainstream Evaluations and Better Protected Young Children |
| Morris Lai, University of Hawaii Manoa, lai@hawaii.edu |
| In an evaluation of an early childhood education (ECE) initiative, we found specific differences in practice between our decolonized, indigenous approach and more mainstream approaches. For example, we regarded interview input from parents regarding effects on children as more valid than 'objective' information from tests developed by strangers from far away. We viewed randomized controlled trials that include control groups receiving no preschool as ethically and methodologically inappropriate; accordingly we obtained comparison groups without using random assignment to treatment. Although it was initially through our indigenous lenses that we noticed problems with the evaluation practices used in widely acclaimed ECE studies, we also realized that those mainstream ECE studies also violate our Western standards. We provide other examples on how a decolonized, indigenous evaluation in practice (a) is distinctly different from mainstream evaluations and (b) better protects the children in the evaluation. |
| Kukuluao (Building Enlightenment): Support for Teachers from a Native Community |
| Alice J Kawakami, University of Hawaii, alicek@hawaii.edu |
| Kukuluao, a teacher support program, was funded in June 2007 to identify existing support and needs and to design assistance for community members along the continuum of the teacher career path to encourage them to become trained and to persist in the teaching profession. The assessment was conducted by staff from the community, resulting in a high return rate on surveys. Results of the surveys were validated by a community advisory board and initiatives designed and implemented by community members in ways that perpetuate the culture of the community through education and professional development for teachers. The presentation will describe ways that the development of capacity and inclusion of the native communities' voices is fundamental to building a stable core of Native Hawaiian teachers for this community. |