Under the Mango Tree: Lessons for the Insider-Outsider Researcher
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v4i3.165Keywords:
Auto-ethnography, multiple identities, personal narratives, Pacific IslandAbstract
An auto ethnographic approach is used to examine the insider-outsider identity of a researcher who is of Pacific Island descent and is also a member of the academy, within the western framework of the dominant culture. Stories from her researcher experience bring situated knowledge into a space that is fraught with tensions, and is highly competitive in nature. Discourses of ‘othering’, power and privilege provide paradigms for critical analysis of the academy.
While storytelling is not new, it is a powerful methodology used by the author to ‘theorise from the flesh’ and to point to past experiences as critical incidences of where her multiple identities are renegotiated as a result of border crossing between her home culture and position as a researcher in the university. She explores the fluidity of the space she occupies as a researcher of her community while working within the academy. Furthermore, she argues that members of the minority cultures at the academy can recognise and use their own positions and voices for enquiry from within.
References
Anae, M., Coxon, E., Mara, D., Samu, T. W., Finau, C. (2001). Pasifika Education Research Guidelines. UniServices Limited, The University of Auckland, Report for Ministry of Education, Wellington.
Carmona, J. F. & Luschen. K. V. (2014). Crafting critical stories: towards pedagogies and methodologies of collaboration, inclusion & voices. Peter Lang: New York.
Chan, H. (2008). Autoethnography as a method. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast.
Chilisa, B. (2012). Indigenous research methodologies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Dillard, C., (2003). The Substance of Things Hoped For, the Evidence of Things Not Seen. Examining an Endarkened Feminist Epistemology in Educational Research and Leadership. In M. Young and L. Skrla (Eds.) Reconsidering Feminist Research in Educational Leadership, pp. 131-59. New York: State University of New York Press.
Dubois, W. E. B. (1994). The souls of black folk. New York: Random House.
Jankie, D. (2001). Rethinking Setswana literacy practices: Towards incorporating community based ad students’ experiences in senior secondary classrooms. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Winsconsin-Madison.
Jacobs-Huey, L. (2002). The natives are grazing and talking back: reviewing the problematics of positionality, voice, and accountability among 'native' anthropologists. American Anthrologist, 104(3), 791-804.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.2002.104.3.791
Kaili. T. (2005). Tauhi va. Nurturing Tongan socio-spatial ties in Maui and beyond. The Contemporary Pacific, 17(1), 83–114.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cp.2005.0017
Kanuha, V. K. (2000). “Being native” Aversus “going native”: Conducting social work research as an insider. Social Work, 45(5), 439–447.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sw/45.5.439
Kaomea. J. (2001). Dilemmas of an Indigenous Academic: a Native Hawaii story. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2 (1).
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2001.2.1.9
Lee, J.B. (2005). Maori cultural regeneration: Purakau as pedagogy. Paper presented as part of a symposium Indigenous Maori pedagogies: Towards community and cultural regeneration. Centre for Research in Lifelong learning International Conference, Stirling, Scotland.
Lorde, A. (1984). Sister “outsider”. Essays and speeches. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press.
Louis, R. P. (2007). Can you hear us now? Voices from the margin: Using indigenous methodologies in geographic research. Geograhic Research, 45, 2, 130-139.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00443.x
Metge, J. (1986). Talking past each other: Problems of cross cultural communications. Victoria University Press: Wellington.
Narayan, K. (1993). How native is a native anthropologist? American Anthropologist, 95(3), 671-686.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1993.95.3.02a00070
Said. E. (1993). Culture and Imperialism. London: Chatto & Windus
Smith, L. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples. Dunedin, NZ: Zed Books.
Spivak, G. (1990). Question of multiculturalism. In S. Harayasam (Ed.), The Post-colonial critic: interviews, strategies, dialogues, (pp. 59–60). New York: Rutledge.
Steinhauer, E., (2002). Thoughts on an Indigenous research methodology. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 26, 69-81.
Subedi, B. (2006). Theorizing a 'Halfie' Researcher' IDentity in Transnational Fieldwork. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19 (5), 573-593.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09518390600886353
Swadener, B. & Mutua, K. (2001). Problematizing decolonizing research in cross-cultural contexts: Complexities, contradictions and impossibilities. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, Washington.
Thaman, K. H. (2008). Nurturing relationships and honouring responsibilities: A Pacific perspective. International Review of Education, 54, 459–473.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11159-008-9092-1
Thaman, K. (2000). Towards a New Pedogogy: Pacific Cultures in Higher Education. In B. Teasedale & Zane Ma. Rhea (Eds.) Local Knowledge and Wisdom in Higher Education, pp. 43-45. International Association of Universities Services on Issues in Higher Education. Oxford: Pergamon.
Thongo, N.W. (1986). Decolonising the mind: the politics of language in African literature. Londres: James Curry.
Vaioleti, T. (1999). Series of Talanoa. Palo Alto, Oakland, San Francisco, California.
Vaioleti, T. (2006). Talanoa research methodology: A developing Position on pacific research. Waikato Journal of Education, 12, 21-34.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice has made best effort to ensure accuracy of the contents of this journal, however makes no claims to the authenticity and completeness of the articles published. Authors are responsible for ensuring copyright clearance for any images, tables etc which are supplied from an outside source.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
