Sustaining Hebridean Educational Research Methodologies

Indigenous methods of qualitative enquiry in educational research have existed in Highland and Island (Gàidhealtachd) communities prior to the introduction of accepted institutional research methodologies of the 20th century, or Western methodologies such as Glaser (1992); Strauss & Corbin (1998); Creswell (2002); and Richardson (2005). This proposed, two-year programme will curate, organise and disseminate examples of research using these Gàidhealtachd methods into one, open-access CORE repository or database.
Hebridean educational research methods value collective voices over individual statements, and view knowledge as community shared, rather than individually owned (Smith, 2023). This community-centred, participatory form of UK narrative research connects with other forms of Indigenous research methods globally (Plain, 2022, 2013, 2011; Smith, 2022, 2023). For example, families and elders with particular gifts or expertise, Da Shealladh, are sought as the first step in participant recruitment through peer nomination or through a form of community snowball recruitment. Data, or knowledge, is collected through narrative and story, to honour voice (Plain, 2022; Smith, 2023). And the analysation of the data is triangulated, again, through a Comunn Eachdraidh, a council of locally-recognised elders. If verification is found through the Comunn Eachdraidh, the roundtable of local elders, then saturation is reached. Great value is placed on the researchers' and participants' connection to family, Sloinneadh and Dùthchas, place-based ancestral knowledge. This collective connection to land in learning, and the oral tradition of data collection through elders, are a few of the unique ways Indigenous Hebridean research is carried out and valued (Smith, 2023; Thomson, 2022; Tilley, 2016; Whitinui, 2014). It also holds ethical considerations for community and participatory researchers.