Conducting Focus Groups in Terms of an Appreciation of Indigenous Ways of Knowing
This chapter offers deliberations around the facilitation of focus groups in a manner that takes into account Indigenous ways of knowing. Indigenous knowing (within various Indigenous cultural heritages) can be defined as linked to processes of people col
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Norma R. A. Romm
Contents 1 2 3 4
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Some Contours of Indigenous Epistemologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Some Literature on Focus Group Research and Lacunae Identified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Illustrative Example: A Focus Group Session with Teachers in KwaZulu-Natal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Conclusion and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Abstract
This chapter offers deliberations around the facilitation of focus groups in a manner that takes into account Indigenous ways of knowing. Indigenous knowing (within various Indigenous cultural heritages) can be defined as linked to processes of people collectively constructing their understandings by experiencing their social being in relation to others. This chapter explores how the conduct of focus groups can be geared toward taking into account as well as strengthening knowing as a relational activity defined in this way. I suggest that once facilitators of focus groups appreciate this epistemology, they can set up a climate in which people feel part of a research process of relational discussion around issues raised. This requires an effort on the part of facilitators to make explicit the type of orientation to research that is being encouraged via the focus group session to participants. In this chapter, I offer an illustrative example of an attempt to practice such an approach to facilitation in a rural setting in South Africa.
N. R. A. Romm (*) Department of Adult Education and Youth Development, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa e-mail: [email protected] # Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 P. Liamputtong (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_46
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Keywords
Indigenous ways of knowing · Collective exploration as relational · Facilitator orientation · Focus group research · Participant feedback
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Introduction
In this chapter, I consider the conduct of focus groups underpinned by an outlook that takes account of Indigenous ways of knowing. The chapter is set in the context of Horsthemke’s (2008) statement that “Indigenous knowledges, as a discursive framework in the academy, are relatively new and have only gained currency in the last twenty years” (as cited in Wane 2013, p. 100). When considering Western-oriented epistemologies since the beginning of the socalle
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