Cultural Narratives: Decolonizing Methodologies, Pedagogies, and Curriculum
Abstract
From an epistemological perspective, dominant educational paradigms often privilege positivist and empirical traditions, reinforcing Western hierarchies of knowledge while dismissing Indigenous, Black, Chicanx, Latinx, and other subaltern ways of knowing (Anzaldua, 1987; Delgado-Bernal, 1998; Freire, 1968, 1970). Decolonizing methodologies and pedagogies (Freire, 1968), particularly those employing narratives such as testimonios, counternarratives, and oral histories, disrupt these hegemonic structures (Delgado‐Gaitan, 1994; Hubert, 2009). They recognize knowledge as socially and culturally constructed, valuing experiential wisdom as legitimate and transformative (Delgado-Bernal, 1998, 2002; Freire, 1970). Thus, this panel, composed of three presentations, will exemplify the process researchers follow to create cultural knowledge and decolonize the curriculum. This panel presentation will introduce and compare the research processes followed by three doctoral students from the Ed. D. in Curriculum Studies program at Georgia Southern University. The purpose of this presentation is to bring insight into the process of three post-decolonial inquiry processes using cross-cultural narrative inquiry (He, 1998, 1999, 2003) and testimonios methodology (Anzaldua, 1983; Delgado-Bernal et al., 2016; Hubert, 2009). These inquiry projects use a collaborative analysis process, allowing participants to analyze and theorize the findings.
Presentation Description
N/A
Location
Room 1
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Garcia-Diaz, Mayra; Mentch, Bahar; Li, Ru; and Fang He, Ming, "Cultural Narratives: Decolonizing Methodologies, Pedagogies, and Curriculum" (2025). Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative. 21.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cssc/2025/2025/21
Cultural Narratives: Decolonizing Methodologies, Pedagogies, and Curriculum
Room 1
From an epistemological perspective, dominant educational paradigms often privilege positivist and empirical traditions, reinforcing Western hierarchies of knowledge while dismissing Indigenous, Black, Chicanx, Latinx, and other subaltern ways of knowing (Anzaldua, 1987; Delgado-Bernal, 1998; Freire, 1968, 1970). Decolonizing methodologies and pedagogies (Freire, 1968), particularly those employing narratives such as testimonios, counternarratives, and oral histories, disrupt these hegemonic structures (Delgado‐Gaitan, 1994; Hubert, 2009). They recognize knowledge as socially and culturally constructed, valuing experiential wisdom as legitimate and transformative (Delgado-Bernal, 1998, 2002; Freire, 1970). Thus, this panel, composed of three presentations, will exemplify the process researchers follow to create cultural knowledge and decolonize the curriculum. This panel presentation will introduce and compare the research processes followed by three doctoral students from the Ed. D. in Curriculum Studies program at Georgia Southern University. The purpose of this presentation is to bring insight into the process of three post-decolonial inquiry processes using cross-cultural narrative inquiry (He, 1998, 1999, 2003) and testimonios methodology (Anzaldua, 1983; Delgado-Bernal et al., 2016; Hubert, 2009). These inquiry projects use a collaborative analysis process, allowing participants to analyze and theorize the findings.
