Weaving culturally responsive and decolonizing research through a Diné epistemological lens
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22415523 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Emily Affolter (0000-0002-6909-0329, Prescott College, corresponding author), Melissa Braden (Prescott College) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-17 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Curriculum Inquiry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0362-6784 • E-ISSN: 1467-873X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03626784.2026.2659748 |
| OpenAlex | W7165183639 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
How can educational research become liberatory if the discipline is rooted in the systemic oppression of communities of Color? Building on Dr. Geneva Gay’s legacy of culturally responsive teaching, we, of Navajo/Diné (Melissa) and European (Emily) ancestries, theorize how culturally responsive research can act as an ongoing project of decolonizing research paradigms by rejecting deficit framings of racialized students, and instead engendering culturally accurate knowledge for and with communities of Color. Utilizing the creation of a Navajo sash belt as a physical bridge between the concepts, we illustrate links between culturally responsive and decolonizing research, with dreams for a more just, culturally and ecologically contextual, and equitable research praxis. We conclude with four overarching principles that overlay culturally responsive and decolonizing research: (1) relationships, (2) reflexivity, (3) reciprocity, and (4) reflection for accountability.
Biculturalism · Cultural diversity · Educational research · Ethnography · Navajo · Oppression · Weaving · Critical Race Theory in Education · Indigenous Cultures and Socio-Education · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education
Decolonizing research imagination
Accountability as praxis
Place in Research
Culturally responsive research ethics
The what, why, and how of culturally responsive teaching
Who Stole Native American Studies
Defining culturally responsive research
Undoing human supremacy and white supremacy to transform relationships
The US-Mexico War, la Frontera, and Their Afterlives
Decolonizing Methodologies
Toward Culturally Responsive Qualitative Research Methods in the Design of Health Technologies
Reciprocity in Indigenous Educational Research
Migration, assimilation and the cultural construction of identity
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |