Thenjiwe Emily Major (senior lecturer in the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Botswana and President of the Responsive Research Collective) in dialogue Gerald Faschingeder.
Can African knowledge systems lead through a research project? Yes, they can, as Thenjiwe Emily Major explains. For years, she has been dealing with indigenous research perspectives with an emphasis on African Philosophy. In her work, culturally sensitive and context relevant research and evaluation methods are necessary for conducting transformative research projects.
But what actually are “indigenous methodologies”? How are hegemonic relations of power experienced in the everyday life of a researcher in the Global South? Can decolonial approaches, that have been gaining momentum, make a change? Or is the discourse on decolonization just a ’supplementary discourse‘?
This episode focuses on questions on the practice of decolonization. From the perspective of Paulo Freires critical understanding of research, we discuss if the relationship between the oppressor and oppressed, especially regarding role of the oppressed in the liberation process, can be transferred to the processes of decolonization.
Key words: Indigenous research perspective, transformative research, African worldviews i.e. African knowledge systems, African Philosophy, adoption of relational ontologies, epistemologies, axiology and methodologies.
Our Guest:
Thenjiwe Emily Major is senior lecturer in the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Botswana in Gaborone. She is also part of the Responsive Research Collective. As a teacher educator and philosopher, she integrates both Western and African methodologies in her work to ensure culturally appropriate approaches and outcomes.
