{"title":"Decolonial perspectives on intercultural research in a study of educational inclusion in rural Cambodia","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ijer.2024.102466","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a critique of intercultural research in the context of a study of <em>Educational Inclusion in Rural Schools in Cambodia</em> undertaken by four U.K. researchers in partnership with four Cambodian researchers. Interculturality is an endeavour to recognise and engage with different ways of being and knowing across cultural boundaries and to address barriers to reciprocal understanding. This endeavour is a complex one and there is little research on the reality of intercultural research, especially in a Cambodian context. We therefore explored this reality within our own research team to address a gap in the literature. Our research question is: <em>What are participants’ perceptions of interculturality based on their experiences of a 5-year research study in educational inclusion?</em> Using a decolonial framework and decolonial methodologies, this paper presents the findings of a qualitative study that draws on questionnaire, research diary and interview data. We critically examine affordances and challenges relating to knowledge exchange, cultural differences, language/translation effects and research orthodoxies. We found that whilst our decolonial approach proved mutually beneficial, fostering co-construction and enhancing power-sharing, the quest for epistemic justice is inevitably constrained by powerful, Western research orthodoxies and funding conditionalities necessitating ongoing, joint reflexivity. The significance of the paper lies in the examination of the lived experiences of these affordances and challenges using a decolonial framework. The paper will be of relevance to international development researchers, international research funding agencies, international NGOs and others working in low and lower middle-income countries (LMICs) in the Global South.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48076,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Educational Research","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035524001514","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper presents a critique of intercultural research in the context of a study of Educational Inclusion in Rural Schools in Cambodia undertaken by four U.K. researchers in partnership with four Cambodian researchers. Interculturality is an endeavour to recognise and engage with different ways of being and knowing across cultural boundaries and to address barriers to reciprocal understanding. This endeavour is a complex one and there is little research on the reality of intercultural research, especially in a Cambodian context. We therefore explored this reality within our own research team to address a gap in the literature. Our research question is: What are participants’ perceptions of interculturality based on their experiences of a 5-year research study in educational inclusion? Using a decolonial framework and decolonial methodologies, this paper presents the findings of a qualitative study that draws on questionnaire, research diary and interview data. We critically examine affordances and challenges relating to knowledge exchange, cultural differences, language/translation effects and research orthodoxies. We found that whilst our decolonial approach proved mutually beneficial, fostering co-construction and enhancing power-sharing, the quest for epistemic justice is inevitably constrained by powerful, Western research orthodoxies and funding conditionalities necessitating ongoing, joint reflexivity. The significance of the paper lies in the examination of the lived experiences of these affordances and challenges using a decolonial framework. The paper will be of relevance to international development researchers, international research funding agencies, international NGOs and others working in low and lower middle-income countries (LMICs) in the Global South.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Educational Research publishes regular papers and special issues on specific topics of interest to international audiences of educational researchers. Examples of recent Special Issues published in the journal illustrate the breadth of topics that have be included in the journal: Students Perspectives on Learning Environments, Social, Motivational and Emotional Aspects of Learning Disabilities, Epistemological Beliefs and Domain, Analyzing Mathematics Classroom Cultures and Practices, and Music Education: A site for collaborative creativity.