Culturally Responsive Research and Evaluation Practice
The focus of this community of practice is to build awareness and understanding of culturally responsive research and evaluation practice both within and outside of UNCG, with a specific focus on methodology. I envision connecting with others at UNCG (and beyond), sharing ideas and readings, holding discussion groups and building capacity in culturally responsive research and evaluation across diverse program and community contexts.
My name is Jill Chouinard and I am an Assistant Professor in the Educational Research Methodology department in the School of Education. In 2018, I became a Faculty Fellow with the Institute for Community and Economic Engagement (ICEE) here at UNCG. As Faculty Fellow, my goal is to create a community of practice/discussion group around culturally responsive approaches to evaluation (and research). I am reaching out to you as someone who may be interested in culturally responsive practice, with the hopes of opening a dialogue with similarly interested researchers from across the campus.
I position and frame the study of methodology (and program evaluation) as a transdisciplinary practice influenced by ideas, concepts and theories from across multiple and diverse disciplines and philosophies of thought. All of my work is shaped by my interest in culture, and in issues of in/equity and social justice (what Jonathon Kozol called “savage inequalities”), whether here at home or more globally. My goal in opening a dialogue and creating a space to talk about culturally responsive evaluation is to broaden our understanding of culture and how it influences and impacts the methodologies that we use in our evaluations and in our research. The enduring question I have is: What new methodological spaces can we create to enable a collective and ongoing pursuit of a more just and humane world for all?
In partnership with ICEE and the Office of Leadership and Civic Engagement, we also have an opportunity to host an event this spring as part of the Community-Engagement Speaker Series on this topic.
I would like to invite you to an informal gathering on Thursday, October 18 at 4pm in 3603 MHRA Building.
Culturally Responsive Research and Evaluation Practice with Dr. Jill Chouinard
Dr. Jill Chouinard’s main interests are in cross-cultural/culturally responsive approaches to research and evaluation, participatory research and evaluation, and evaluation and public policy. She has extensive experience working on evaluations at the community level in the areas of education and training, social services, health, and organizational learning and change. Much of her evaluation work has been conducted in First Nations and Inuit communities, as well as in other culturally and socially diverse community settings. She positions evaluation as a catalyst for learning, collaboration, social justice and community change. Email agchouin@uncg.edu for more information about the culturally responsive evaluation learning community.
