Culturally Responsive Research Design as Complement to Hegemonic Paradigms in the Comparative, International, Development Educational Context

Abstract

Despite profuse research on the matter, the widely acknowledged gap between educational research and teaching/learning practices suggests that considering the cultural cannons of participants under research remains an issue -among others- when addressing the legitimization of knowledge production in Comparative, International, Developing, Educational (CIDE) contexts. Such premise acquires further relevance for initiatives conducted with research participants whose voices are commonly marginalized in the process of designing research instruments, including the youth and children. The present paper aims at analyzing the importance of conducting CIDE research from a culturally responsive approach, and to illustrate that research strategies which bridge the either hegemonic or alternative research dichotomy contribute the legitimacy of knowledge production in contexts including underage subjects. A small-scale pilot research was internationally implemented with two teenage students and two educational researchers from developed and undeveloped contexts to use their epistemologies as input for the design of a data-collection method. Results suggest that omitting the views of participants in the process of research design can risk the legitimacy of knowledge production, and that complementary approaches contribute better the validity of studies conducted in the field of Social Sciences.