Re-introducing life history methodology: An equitable social justice approach to research in education

Abstract

Educational researchers who are mindful of social justice are suggested to consider contemporary research methodologies' historical alignment with colonization: Expansion and the ensuing epistemicide. This chapter argues that life history methodology can be used as a counter to traditional research methodologies and provides space to collect and analyze data in a way that counters past traditions. Contemporary educational research methodologies and methods are replete with historical baggage so pronounced that social justice advocates can, unwittingly, engage in research methods that reify the harms that they seek to counter. Life history provides real opportunities for educational researchers to develop new knowledge by listening to and validating the experiences of the most vulnerable populations. Life history challenges the idea of a universal truth-stemming from Eurocentric positionalities.