Educational Researcher’s Interview and Study

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This paper presents the results of an interview conducted with an educational researcher. First, the analysis of the interview is provided. Next, an article by the same researcher is analyzed. Finally, both the interview and the article are critically considered with respect to a number of notions that are related to the contemporary educational research.

Interview Analysis

I conducted the interview with Dr. Susan Rae Banks-Joseph, who is a Ph.D. in Special Education, an Associate Professor of Special Education, and a Co-Director of Clearinghouse on Native Teaching and Learning, the Washington State University (“Susan Rae Banks,” n.d.). During the interview, Dr. Banks briefly told me of her origins and her way towards her current position (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). Dr. Banks is a daughter of a woman of Irish-German origins and of a man from the Arapaho tribe, which is a Native American tribe living mainly in the states of Oklahoma and Wyoming. According to Dr. Banks, in her childhood and later, she was considerably influenced by her grandfather, who often would tell her that “Learning is living. If you stop learning, you stop living” (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016).

Dr. Banks stated that this motto became a guiding idea in her life, and permitted her to finish school and pursue college education, in spite of the fact that her counselor insisted that she was not “college material,” whatever that might mean (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). Because the Doctor often faced various types of oppression, such as racism, sexism, marginalization, and so on, in her young age (both personally and as a cousin of an individual with “disability”; the Doctor also stressed that in her native language, there was no word for “disability,” which permitted her to more easily realize that “disability” is a socio-cultural construct), she felt deeply indignant with that state of affairs. This also considerably influenced her future career as a researcher. Dr. Banks chose a career of a special education researcher, focusing on special education for children of color, so that she might help them to realize themselves in spite of the numerous fundamental faults of the contemporary, White-oriented education, as well as to assist in researching and promoting more culturally friendly ways of educating children (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016).

According to Dr. Banks’ words, she absorbed a great amount of knowledge and culture from her indigenous native people. The indigenous epistemological framework that she utilizes “ecompass[es] knowledge(s) that are reflective of direct experiences with people and all creation” (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). This is a reason why the Doctor gives her preference to the qualitative research methodology; according to Dr. Banks, it focuses on individuals and their personal experiences and views. In addition, the scholar perceives knowledge as closely tied to service to others, which also prompts her to employ her knowledge and skills in order to improve education and help children who are at a disadvantage due to the structure of the society to develop their skills and talents. In addition, the Doctor stressed that it was her conviction that it is crucial to hear the voices of all people of all origins in order to develop shared knowledge and mutual respect, and to provide everyone with an appropriate opportunity to live (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016).

Document Analysis

The article by Dr. Banks that will be analyzed here is labeled “Caregiver and professional perceptions of assessment practices and validity for American Indian/Alaska Native families” (Banks, 1997). This article focused on the program and evaluation planning for children with special needs of American Indian/Alaska Native origins; it was uncovered that, in spite of the fact that there existed recommended teaching practices, the educational programs used were considerably different from these practices. It happened because the latter were heavily dependent upon the traditional “standardized norm-reference tests,” which were alien to the young representatives of indigenous people (Banks, 1997, p. 17). Therefore, Dr. Banks proposed not to mechanically extend the standard evaluation practices on early intervention programs, instead of that paying attention to the possible methods to bridge the current gaps in the education for the various cultures (Banks, 1997).

From the article, it is apparent that Dr. Banks viewed knowledge given to children not only as knowing hard facts, but also as knowing the ways that can be utilized so as to live in the society and the environment; the Doctor, for instance, considered the notions of treatment, ecological, social validity, and so on, in her article (Banks, 1997), supposing that all these are crucial for a child to absorb knowledge and learn to use it.

While the researcher does not provide a clear definition of the notion of theory in her article (Banks, 1997), it is also apparent that she views a theory as one particular framework with its own methodology; however, each of these frameworks also has its limits, and cannot be mechanically extended to cover all the other areas for which it was not designed. In other words, there is no “one size fits all” theory, and each concrete theory (and educational theories among them) should be purposefully designed for a particular situation.

As for the notion of research, Banks (1997), of course, also does not provide a formal definition of this notion. However, she uses research in order to handle the stereotypes that exist in the society, and that, ironically enough, regulate the sphere of education, which should actually free one from stereotypes rather that impose them on a person. It should also be noted that the study conducted by Banks (1997) employs a quantitative methodology, computing descriptive statistics for an array of data collected via Likert-based questionnaires.

In the article, Dr. Banks almost does not position herself in relation to her research. The researcher keeps to the formal tone that is rather characteristic of the scientific writing, so that the author becomes abstract to a certain extent. However, at the end of the paper, the scholar provides a quotation of one of the parent/caregiver respondents of her study. The respondent stated that the use of the standardized testing procedures does not allow for identifying her son as a “well-rounded individual” who is “able to comprehend artistically” (as cited in Banks, 1997, p. 42), instead, apparently, identifying the boy as one who lags in his learning efforts. The provision of this quote clearly identifies Dr. Banks’ position; it might be possible to state that the scholar once again stresses that her research addressed a considerable problem in the educational system. Therefore, the role of research is that of an instrument used by scholars in order to help individuals live a fuller life.

The Analysis of Course Readings, and Their Relation to the Interview with the Researcher and her Writing

It is possible to discuss both the interview with Dr. Banks (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016) and her article (Banks, 1997) from a number of points of view, and to assess whether these sources support or contradict the main theoretical frameworks that were previously considered.

Ontology and Epistemology

It is interesting to note that the article by Banks (1997), being a quantitative study, employs a widespread epistemological model which does not contradict the model of empiricism that is often employed in science (Paul & Marfo, 2001); the same can be said of her ontological stance in that case (Adams-St.Pierre, 2000). On the other hand, in her interview, Dr. Banks is inclined to use her indigenous epistemological and ontological framework, which is, as she says, is more appropriate for a qualitative study (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). Certain authors would agree that epistemological diversity plays a significant role (Pallas,2001), even though Siegel (2006) would apparently disagree with this stance, stating that the problem of indigenous knowledge is exaggerated.

Race

The problem of race is directly touched upon both in Dr. Banks’ article and her interview. In her article, the scholar exposes the problems that indigenous children (American Indian/Alaska Native) face when being assessed with standard procedures, which clearly underestimate them (Banks, 1997). In her interview, the Doctor stresses that she faced racial discrimination in childhood and later, and that her career motivations were related to that discrimination (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). This agrees with the notion of epistemological racism, when the epistemologies originate from the cultures of the dominant race, and attempt to impose their norms on other cultures (Scheurich & Young, 1997). It also agrees with the statement of Annamma (2014) that the educational system fails to properly teach people of color, which is also associated with their increased presence in juvenile prisons.

Gender Theories

Reference to gender is present in Dr. Banks’ interview, where she states that she faced discrimination as a girl due to her gender (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). This agrees with the statement of Elman (2012), who stresses that literature for adolescents, and teen sick-lit in particular, promotes ableist, heteronormative, and sexist views. Unfortunately, these views are still widespread n today’s society (Elman, 2015).

Postmodern Considerations

It is noteworthy that both the article and the interview with Dr. Banks raise issues that are characteristic of the postmodern era, that is, the issues of multiculturalism, pluralism, skepticism towards the established norms, and so on (Agada, 1998; Constas, 1998). In her article, for instance, Banks (1997) confirms her skeptical view on the standard educational methods, and asserts that members of different cultures should be approached differently by the educational system.

In her interview, Dr. Banks stressed that the representatives of her people suffered from discrimination (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016); it is possible to claim that this is, ultimately, a result of the colonial era in the U.S. Interestingly, however, that even though today’s dominating political system is the liberal democracy, which is based on the participation of everyone in the political life (Agada, 1998), certain peoples still remain discriminated in that society and underrepresented in its higher classes.

Indigenous Knowledge

In her interview, the scholar stresses that she prefers employing a qualitative methodology, for it is closer to the indigenous ways of knowing, for instance, allowing for reflecting upon human experiences (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). This agrees with Barnhardt and Angayuqaq (2005), who emphasize that the learning process should also use the indigenous worldviews and systems of knowledge, and that these even ought to become the center of contemporary educational systems to a certain extent.

Ecological Thinking and Educational Research

Banks (1997) researched the problem of the ecological validity of the recommended educational systems, finding out that the educational priorities of indigenous people were addressed by these systems very rarely (p. 31). This is an important problem, for the ecological thinking appears to prove crucial in education when the needs of particular individuals raised in different cultures are not properly addressed. This results in the need to use various educational strategies for different audiences (Erickson & Gutierrez, 2002; Feuer, Towne, & Shavelson, 2002).

Queer Theory and Educational Research

Dr. Banks only mentioned the issues related to queers in one sentence in her interview, when she stated that “we do not have time for… homophobia” (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). This agrees with the post-modern views of cultural diversity and deep politics, and with the notion that the personal becomes political in the modern world (Agada, 1998; Gitlin, 2005; Elman, 2015).

Critical Disabilities Studies and Educational Research

The critical disabilities are mentioned in Dr. Banks’ interview; the researcher states that her cousin was a disabled person, according to the notions of the dominant culture; however, she never viewed her cousin as “disabled,” instead being able to see the numerous positive, lively aspects of the cousin’s personality; furthermore, the scholar stated that her native language did not have a word for “disabled” (S. R. Banks-Joseph, personal communication, November 20, 2016). This perfectly agrees with the viewpoint that disability, as well as many other notions, are social constructs that are, at least to a certain extent, imposed on individuals. Interestingly, Collins (2011) describes a case in which a schoolboy was continuously labeled as “bad” by his class, which excluded him from the classroom community and led to negative consequences; in this case, it is apparent that the boy suffered from a socially imposed notion.

Art-Based Inquiry

The issue of art-based inquiry is mentioned in Banks (2007), when the author emphasizes that using the same tool for assessing different students is inappropriate; it is mentioned that some children might “comprehend artistically,” which would allow for their better incorporation into the academic process (p. 42). A number of researchers might support this or a similar position. For instance, it is stated that educational research cannot be based solely on the notion of evidence-based practice (Berliner, 2002; Eisenhart & DeHaan, 2005), and should also include, e.g., ethical considerations (Hostetler, 2005); there is also a problem of preparing professional educational researchers, which is related to certain irreducible differences between educators and teachers (Labaree, 2003).

Conclusion

Therefore, it should be stressed that in her interview, Dr. Banks emphasized her indigenous origins, and stated that certain beliefs she inherited from her native people helped her overcome various negative phenomena (such as racism or sexism) and become an educator. The indigenous knowledge played a considerable role in her views of a teacher and an educational researcher. The article by Dr. Banks employed quantitative methodologies to unveil the faults associated with the use of standardized assessment tools for children of color. Both the article and the interview with Dr. Banks mostly agree with the majority of various epistemologies and theoretical frameworks expressed in a number of scholarly sources and other readings used for the paper.

References

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Banks, S. R. (1997). Caregiver and professional perceptions of assessment practices and validity for American Indian/Alaska Native families.Journal of American Indian Education, 37(1), 16-44. Web.

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