This virtual study group (VSG) focused on efforts related to decolonizing evaluation.
Tue 27 October 2020, 6pm EDT: Toronto/New York
Wed 28 October 2020. 9am AEST: Sydney / 11am Auckland
Description: What has been written on First Nations methods of evaluation? What are the case studies or projects where decolonization of evaluation has been developed and tried? Is decolonization of evaluation even possible, given the epistemological foundations upon which our cultural research practices and institutions are built? This VSG will feature three Indigenous evaluators, from different First Nations contexts, to consider practical ways forward along with the ongoing questions that shape this field of cultural research.
Speakers:
Andrea L. K. Johnston, CEO of Johnston Research Inc, is from Chippewas of Nawash First Nation and has worked in the field of evaluation for over 25 years, developing over 200 Indigenous evaluation frameworks. Johnston is also the creator of the Waawiyeyaa Evaluation Tool which is used across Canada and internationally. In the past few years, Johnston has worked extensively in cultural competency/safety training and facilitation, and has provided Indigenous evaluation training to many organizations and departments across Canada.
Maggie Walter (PhD, FASSA) is palawa, a member of the larger Briggs Johnson Tasmanian Aboriginal family, and Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Tasmania. She is a founding member of the Maiam nayri Wingara Indigenous Data Sovereignty Collective and the Global Indigenous Data Alliance. She has published extensively in the field including, Indigenous Statistics: A Quantitative Research Methodology (co-authored with C. Andersen 2013 Routledge) and Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Social Policy (with Tahu Kukutai; Stephanie Russo Carroll and Desi Rodriguez Lonebear, Routledge, 2020).
Aneta Cram (Ngāti Pahauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu) is an evaluator whose extensive traveling experience and formative years at Kohanga and Rumaki Reo in Raglan have shaped the way that she approaches life, engaging with others and the social issues that defines her work. Aneta began working in the evaluation field with a Kaupapa Māori research and evaluation company. She has more than five years of experience working in the Kaupapa Māori evaluation space and brings both her experience of Kaupapa Māori and her academic learning of evaluation practice to her work.