Decolonizing Action Research through Two-Eyed Seeing: The Indigenous Quality Assurance Project

Abstract

Action Research (AR) has been widely utilized in Indigenous contexts because of its emphasis on social transformation and synergies with Indigenous research approaches. Yet, while AR is seen as an attractive option for working in Indigenous research contexts, additional efforts are needed to ensure that AR adequately interrogates collaborations between Western and Indigenous knowledge systems. The application of the principle of two-eyed seeing (TES), which refers to the process of seeing from the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing with one eye while using the other eye to see with the strengths of Western ways of knowing (Bartlett, Marshall, & Marshall, 2012), can center decolonial goals, addressing the shortcomings of AR. This article describes the operationalization of TES through the Indigenous Quality Assurance Project, focusing on the four key essentials of TES: co-learning, knowledge scrutinization, knowledge validation, and knowledge gardening (Bartlett, 2017).