ERIC Number: EJ1360729
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1359-866X
EISSN: EISSN-1469-2945
Available Date: N/A
Disrupting Power through Reflexivity: New Possibilities for Researchers and Teachers Working with Dalits in Nepal
Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, v50 n4 p372-386 2022
Sociologists of education have shown that schooling tends to favour the most powerful groups and that even well-intentioned researchers can run the risk of perpetuating some of the very power structures we seek to critique. In this paper we explore how a male, Brahmin researcher from Nepal (the highest caste group in Nepalese society) attempted to disrupt power in researching the educational experiences of the lowest caste group -- the Dalits -- in one public school in Nepal. Drawing on ethnographic data generated in the field, alongside feminist theorising about reflexivity and power in research, we illuminate daily events in the life of a government school in Nepal that worked to reproduce power, including interactions that were witnessed between a range of actors in the field. We consider how the researcher's reflexivity enabled him to recognise power and attempt to disrupt it. We argue that the focus on the "how" of research -- with power at the forefront of our thinking -- can lead to seeing things in the field in new ways, with the potential to influence future research and teaching in the Nepalese context in order to work towards justice for Dalit students.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Social Class, Power Structure, Educational Experience, Social Justice, Economically Disadvantaged, Social Bias, Teacher Student Relationship, Public Schools, Secondary Schools
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Nepal
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A