International research is rewarding for researchers and can highlight individuals with diverse perspectives and cultural traditions. International research in the social sciences also has the "potential to enhance life chances and reduce the inequality that characterizes exchanges between the global north and south" (Lombe et al., 2013, p. 39). In accordance with the Belmont Report's three guiding principles (Respect for Persons, Beneficence, and Justice), aspiring international researchers must consider the nuances that may arise in different cultural contexts. Such nuances may include but are not limited to, different conceptions of decision-making based on collectivist rather than individualistic community structures and different expectations of interpersonal interactions along gender lines. The purpose of this blog post is to highlight the international research experiences of current Teachers College (TC) students and the different practices they employed to be culturally responsive in their research.

What is Culturally Responsive Research?

According to Farmer et al. (2005), referenced in Lahman's 2022  piece Culturally Responsive Research Ethics, culturally responsive research includes the:

  1. "Explicit recognition, valuing, and discussion of cultural differences."
  2. "Validation of the worldviews of participants"
  3. "Explicit discussion of power differentials"
  4. "Acknowledgment that nontraditional research methods may work better with participants of differing cultural values” (Lahman, 2022).

To be responsive in culturally responsive research is to "step out of one's frame of reference into that of another to…consider the other's point of view," resulting in a shift of attention and mental engrossment on the [participant], not on ourselves" (Lahman, 2022). Such a shift allows the researcher to better understand the values, traditions, perspectives, and needs of participants while also potentially prompting the researcher to reckon with any preconceived notions or biases they may hold. This reckoning, or questioning, is essential in culturally responsive research because it allows the researcher to exercise reflexivity. Reflexivity can be understood as "thoughtful, self-aware analysis of the intersubjective dynamics between the researcher and the researched", requiring the researcher to reflect upon the different ways their "social background, assumptions, positioning, and behavior" impact the research process (Lahman, 2022). To conduct research across different cultural contexts is to co-construct knowledge alongside those respective communities, and reflexivity provides researchers the necessary tool to critically examine power dynamics and imbalances that may be present and the researchers' own role in exacerbating those imbalances.

In this blog post, Researcher Highlights, Hira Shahbaz, Research Writing & Ethics intern, conducted a 30-minute interview with Chris Henderson, a member of the Teachers College research community, who offered insights on culturally responsive ways to engage in research with communities across borders.

Chris Henderson, Ed. M is a 3rd-year doctoral fellow in the International and Comparative Education program. He has 10 years experience working in the international development and humanitarian sector, with a broad focus on teachers' work and professional development in complex contexts. Chris holds a Master of Education from the University of Sydney, where his research focused on teachers’ interpretations of their work in post-disaster communities, and his current research at Teachers College is focused on the associations between the professional development and mental health of Rohingya refugee teachers in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

Navigating Cultural Nuances, From Recruitment to Consent Forms

As a practitioner-scholar, Chris is interested in "the extent to which, if at all, teachers' identities, experiences, and expertise inform humanitarian programming and [...] how this corresponds with teacher professional development outcomes and teachers' impact on adolescent learning and well-being." His region of interest and experience is in South and Southeast Asia. His work is situated in "the converging crises of climate change and sectarian conflict." When asked about ethical dilemmas he faced amidst his research, Chris spoke on study recruitment challenges in post-disaster Indonesia. Per IRB regulations, the expectation is that research is voluntary and participants are largely recruited by responding to open calls and advertisements. He explained that this typical form of recruitment might be considered culturally insensitive because many Indonesian communities are relationship-based and trust-oriented. "My local counterparts at academic institutions and with humanitarian agencies were like, that's not going to work. And in fact, that's really unethical in some ways from a cultural point of view, to expect teachers to put themselves out there and come forward", he explained. Indonesian communities may expect relationships before creating an open call as that form of communication may be more respectful and successful.

To navigate this cultural nuance, Chris sought out community partners who had prior relationships with potential participants - teachers. These community partners could support Chris in relaying information and providing introductions to community leaders. It also allowed him the means to ask teachers or members of the community to be "engaged in this research project because it's of collective benefits to the community."

Chris also emphasized the importance of valuing participants' time and making the most of the opportunity to learn from them. During his research in Bangladesh, Chris observed that teachers sometimes lacked time to review a lengthy consent form document. These teachers often worked under extreme amounts of stress and pressure, especially when considering their environment working in a refugee camp context. Chris addressed the contextual needs of his study population by having an open informed consent document, meaning he provided a synopsis to participants of what the consent document includes. "You have to be considerate of where they're at and not provide any kind of institutional trauma," he explained. He also clarified to his participants that all findings would be shared back with them and offered the option of providing transcripts to participants, should they so desire.

Lombe et al. stress the significance of dissemination in culturally responsive research, calling forth the development of a dissemination strategy that incorporates "different modes of communication" and "go beyond presenting findings in peer-reviewed journals". This may include organizing informal presentations within the local community (Lombe et al., 2013, p. 37-38). As Lombe et al. articulates, the "involvement of actors from the global south permits authentic ownership of study results and strengthens local capacity for authorship and other dissemination skills" (Lombe et al., 2013, p. 37-38). Developing a dissemination strategy is something prospective international researchers ought to keep in mind, and a matter IRB professionals may be able to support.

Elevating Local Wisdom in Research 

A key feature of culturally responsive research is the use of local knowledge and wisdom to inform research methodologies and instruments (e.g., focus group questions, surveys). When asked how he elevates the voices of the communities in which he works and conducts research, Chris stated, "The way I approach that now is really trying to build in local idioms of distress or local idioms of capability and success into my work. And so it's saying that to the teacher, for instance, or the school leader or [...] whoever it is I'm talking to, "I'm coming here as a learner, and I hope that as a learner, I'm able to bridge a gap between your experience and the work that we do from a research and a humanitarian agency point of view."

For example, Chris built his ​research in Indonesia on an understanding of the idiom "bangkit semangat". Though initially unfamiliar with this term, Chris noticed it was mentioned frequently during his interviews. After inquiring about the meaning of the word, one participant, a teacher, responded that "...for us, as teachers, bangkit semangat is everything we do after an emergency, it's about raising the spirits, raising our collective sense of capability. And so our pedagogy as a teacher is built upon this idea of bangkit semangat to raise these spirits.". Chris later started to weave bangkit semangat into his conversations with teachers by expressing his interest in the concept and his curiosity about how the participants operationalize bangkit semangat in their work. Learning about bangkit semangat and integrating it into his conversations provided a new frame from which to understand resilience and how the particular communities he worked with rose above a challenge. Additionally, Chris states that "using idioms brings the participant and me closer together in conversation." Sensitively incorporating local knowledge, including idioms, into one's research design can help build researcher-participant rapport and trust. 

Culturally responsive researchers aspiring to work internationally should learn what the conversations and topics they intend to raise mean in the context in which they are situated. Doing so allows researchers to verify that their research is contextually relevant and applicable to the community in question. This also aids in the mitigation of harm versus benefits (Lombe et al.,  2013, p. 39). IRB administrators can work with researchers to remain compliant, protect participants' rights and welfare, and adjust materials to respect their population of interest. During our conversation, Chris asked, "how do we facilitate conversations in informal ways in a community? From an Indonesian or a Bangladeshi perspective, what do these conversations mean?" Speaking further on his experiences in Indonesia, he explained that in Indonesian, the term "ngobrol" signifies a "coming together to discuss the day's challenges, to kind of talk through what's going on in the community and arrive at some sort of consensus". To ngobrol-ngobrol is "very fluid and very informal", and as Chris states, "could be a ten-minute conversation, or a three-hour conversion, but it's this group that comes together." Chris used this term to help facilitate discussion, stating "I don't set a time limit [...] I don't even have questions laid out. It's just we're doing this in an Indonesian way [...] at the moment, it's saying to the participants that, we're doing this your way. Like, I'm here to just be an observer and a participant in your conversation. All I'm doing is setting the theme, and you go for it."

Exercising Reflexivity,  Adjusting Methodology

Through the practice of reflexivity, culturally responsive researchers acknowledge that research is an iterative process and that methodologies can and ought to be revised if potential harm may be enacted. Chris spoke to this point, citing his experiences conducting a research project on mental health in Bangladesh. He spoke of the importance of knowing when to push an issue and when to pull back: "Early on, I realized that I was moving too fast on the mental health aspect of things. Within the Rohingya community, for instance, there is wide awareness of mental health issues. And this is something that's wide-ranging: depression, suicidality, all these really extreme sorts of manifestations of the trauma they experience in these camps." He explained. "But for them to talk about that sort of early on with someone like me, I could say was off limits."

In response, Chris revised his methods and approach to "not talk about mental health specifically, but talk about all the peripheral issues that we know influence mental health outcomes for teachers, [including] their skills in the classroom, their experience of professional development, issues around time and space to engage in collaborative conversations with each other, their relationships with the community. So these things don't feel like mental health conversations, but they actually are mental health conversations. And I'm going to wait probably another six months to a year until we start moving into this more focused conversation on mental health."

Advice to Future International Researchers 

Chris emphasized the importance of building relationships and connections as early as possible in the research design phase. "Even though the IRB process is very technical and it's very nuanced, the more you can show that you've got relationships and you've got partnerships and that you are working within a broader network of actors in that space, the better it looks." Chris also advised prospective researchers to "never put your research or what you are hoping to gain from this research as the focus. That turns people off and pushes people away very quickly. So it's this kind of paradox, right? You need to build this really strong network and series of partnerships to support your research. But that network and those partnerships cannot feel like this is all about you and your master's or doctoral dissertation." Applying a culturally responsive lens within research can aid in the elevation of a variety of voices.

Students interested in conducting international research should remember that upholding the rights and welfare of human subjects is a fundamental tenet of responsible research and the IRB office offers guidance to ensure students are compliant. Though immensely rewarding for the researcher and the greater researcher community, elevating the perspectives of participants in contexts that typically may not be explored ought to be at the forefront of research design. As Lombe states, "the challenge for researchers engaged internationally is to leave participants with change that makes a difference and that the local community can own" (Lombe et al., 2013, p. 39).

Reading on Culturally Responsive Research

References

Fostering Ethical Research in Contexts with Nuanced Vulnerability

Lahman, M. (2018). Ethics in social science research. SAGE Publications, Inc, https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781071878750

Lahman, M. K. (2022). Culturally responsive research ethics. Methodspace. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www.methodspace.com/blog/culturally-responsive-research-ethics 

Lombe, M., Newransky, C., Crea, T., & Stout, A. (2013). From rhetoric to reality: planning and conducting collaborations for international research in the global south. Social work, 58(1), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/sws056 

Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in EiE | Our Stories | International and Comparative Education Program | International & Transcultural Studies | Teachers College, Columbia University. (n.d.). Teachers College - Columbia University. https://www.tc.columbia.edu/international-and-transcultural-studies/international-and-comparative-education/our-stories/news-stories/navigating-ethical-dilemmas-in-eie/

 

 

 

— Hira Shahbaz

Tags: Tips for Success Multicultural Considerations Ethics

Published Tuesday, Mar 14, 2023