|
Session Title: International, Cross-cultural, and Multicultural Context in Evaluation: Lessons From Near and Far
|
|
Panel Session 543 to be held in Panzacola Section H1 on Friday, Nov 13, 1:40 PM to 3:10 PM
|
|
Sponsored by the Presidential Strand
|
| Chair(s): |
| Rodney Hopson, Duquesne University, hopson@duq.edu
|
| Abstract:
The recent movement to incorporate culture in the evaluation field might be traced to two seminal New Directions for Evaluation special issues (Madison, 1992; Patton, 1985), which reflected on the international/cross-cultural perspectives and the domestic/multi-ethnic issues that evaluators face in their work. Since then, a flurry of discussions, conference meetings, proceedings, and published work (Frierson, et.al, 2002; Hood, et.al, 2004; Kirkhart, 1995; National Science Foundation, 2000, 2001; Orlandi, 1992; Thompson-Robinson, et.al, 2004) provide substantial consideration of recognizing the centrality of cultural context in evaluation. Signaling a paradigm shift in the field, very few opportunities exist to bring together the international/cross-cultural and the domestic/multi-ethnic perspectives. In moving beyond narrow culture-free assumptions, the culmination of this work in the last two decades suggests new ways of thinking about and bringing together these issues for the evaluation field.
This panel will discuss how notions of multiple international and domestic, cultural contexts can influence and be integrated into the evaluation field. Selected evaluator scholars and practitioners, both emerging and seasoned, will share their contributions on cultural context as an attempt to provide lessons from international and local theory and practice evaluation work in advancing our notions of this emerging discussion.
|
|
An Umbrella That Covers International and Domestic Culturally Complex Contexts
|
| Donna Mertens, Gallaudet University, donna.mertens@gallaudet.edu
|
|
Evaluators have multiple opportunities to learn about and struggle with the meaning of culture in their work. A synergistic relationship exists in the evaluation community in that evaluators who work internationally can learn from those situated in domestic settings and vice versa. Some theoretical perspectives focus on single dimensions of culture (such as race or gender); some theoretical perspectives emanated from international contexts (such as indigenous or post-colonial theories). In this presentation, Mertens will critically examine the common strands that unite those who struggle to understand how to improve both the theory and practice of evaluation in the context of cultural complexity.
|
|
|
International Perspectives in Evaluation Practice: Points of View on the Importance of Cultural Context
|
| Liliana Rodriguez-Campos, University of South Florida, lrodriguez@coedu.usf.edu
|
|
This paper presentation discusses how notions of multiple cultural contexts can influence and be integrated into the evaluation field. Rodriguez draws upon her work in Asia, North America, and South America to ask questions about cultural context and to illuminate it within international evaluation practice. Specifically, she shares the perceptions of selected evaluator practitioners on the contextual elements that might be considered when conducting an evaluation in specific international settings. The goal of this presentation is to further increase awareness for the need of appropriate evaluations for each unique group.
| |
|
The Value-added Dimension of Culturally Responsive Evaluation
|
| Melvin Hall, Northern Arizona University, melvin.hall@nau.edu
|
|
The AEA Guiding Principles for Evaluators, posits a general but meaningful obligation of evaluators to "seek a comprehensive understanding of the important contextual elements of the evaluation." For evaluators whose stance or disposition is to be culturally responsive, context includes important matters of cultural orientation, self image, and community values as they affect the way people make meaning out of their daily lives. For culturally or contextually responsive evaluators, great effort is devoted to understanding the program experience through the eyes of participants as well as program planners and implementers. But how do we know when cultural, community or self image issues are salient and must be included in the evaluation? How can we understand the contribution to participant experiences resulting from their relative vantage points and world views? This presentation will engage these questions drawing upon the experiences gained in a multiyear NSF funded culturally responsive evaluation project.
| |
|
Evaluative Attention to Culture
|
| Maurice Samuels, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, msamuels@uiuc.edu
|
| Katherine Ryan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, k-ryan6@illinois.edu
|
|
A failure by evaluators to understand and recognize the value of culture in evaluations can have significant ramifications (a) on groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in evaluations, (b) on social programs achieving desired improvements and outcomes, and (c) for advancing the evaluation field in the 21st century. The authors of this paper argue the importance of attending to culture especially in educational evaluation. They begin by situating evaluative attention to culture within the evaluation field by elaborating on Culturally Responsive Evaluation and its roots in responsive evaluation; its congruence with democratic principles and traditions in evaluation including school-based internal evaluation and deliberative democratic evaluation. The paper will conclude with an illustration of one case example which involves School-Based Reflection, an approach to educational evaluation that attends to culture and also incorporates democratic principles.
| |