Laying methodological foundations for educational research with an Adivasi community

Abstract

This research seeks to lay methodological foundations for educational research with Soliga community, an Adivasi community living in the Biligiri Rangan Hills (BR Hills) in the state of Karnataka in south of India. It is an exploratory study of their experiences of formal education and research.

This research is a part of the cyclical process that will feed into the future research with the community and is a foundational step for building a methodology. The findings will contribute to the conception of subsequent research project and the collaboration plans with the community. In order to address the limitations of dominant Euro-centric research paradigms that have academic and methodological imperialism embedded in them, this study adopts Indigenous research methodologies which seek to overcome these by challenging the assumptions of academic autonomy and involves cyclical process of collective action and reflection.

This empirical research that adopts a critical qualitative approach involves members of the Soliga community organisation called Soliga Abhivruddhi Sangha (SAS) (translates to Soliga Development Group). It also involves the local NGO, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) which has been working with the community for several years. Using relational ethical framework, this research explores how SAS members experience formal education in relation to their epistemologies, pedagogies, and values. It also explores their prior experiences of research. This was achieved using one-on-one in-person conversations and focus group discussion and thematic analysis.

The findings provide an insight into the tensions between episteme of formal education and Soliga epistemologies and dissonances in the values embedded in them. It also highlights how these dissonances and their experiences of research have implications on the methodological foundations for educational research with Soliga community. The findings lead to a set of guiding principles and questions that deal with the intricacies and complexities of participatory research and form a starting point for the future research with the community.

Date of Award	30 Nov 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Angeline M Barrett (Supervisor), Leon P Tikly (Supervisor) & Lisa Lucas (Supervisor)