Decolonial perspectives on intercultural research in a study of educational inclusion in rural Cambodia

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Ravet, Jackie and Mtika, Peter and McFarlane, Amy and MacDonald, Catriona and Khun, Bunlee and Tep, Vandy and Sam, Rany and Yoeng, Hak (2024) Decolonial perspectives on intercultural research in a study of educational inclusion in rural Cambodia. International Journal of Educational Research, 128. 102466. ISSN 0883-0355 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2024.102466)

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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.

ORCID iDs

Ravet, Jackie, Mtika, Peter ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6017-4617, McFarlane, Amy, MacDonald, Catriona, Khun, Bunlee, Tep, Vandy, Sam, Rany and Yoeng, Hak;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:90809
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    9 October 2024
    Published
    9 October 2024
    Published Online
    1 October 2024
    Accepted
    Subjects:Education
    Department:Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS)
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:10 Oct 2024 14:16
    Last modified:12 Dec 2024 15:41
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/90809
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