Evaluator Perspective: ‘Weaving together’ – Learnings from the field when working with diverse knowledges towards transformative practice
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X221146362 |
| Author | Stephanie Harrison |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Special Feature |
Special Feature
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2023, Vol. 23(2) 111–115
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/1035719X221146362
journals.sagepub.com/home/evj
Evaluator Perspective:
‘Weaving together’–Learnings
from the field when working
with diverse knowledges
towards transformative
practice
Stephanie Harrison
This paper was written on the lands of the nuenonne people in lutruwita/Tasmania.
Sovereignty was never ceded.
This paper is a personal reflection from an emerging evaluator’s perspective as I unpack
the learnings of a recent evaluation commission and share insights on the personal
growth required when undertaking transformative evaluation practice. In learning how
to weave together diverse cultural perspectives, guided by the principle of self-
determination, I reflect on practice and positioning as an evaluator working at the
cultural interface.
Undertaking work that is culturally grounded, transformative, and actively con-
tributes to self-determination for First Nations’peoples requires critical self-reflection
and conscious repositioning of the self (Gollan & Stacey, 2021). Transforming internal
paradigms to see and understand the world in new ways, ways that can shift embedded
systems of control, is a process of birthing the self. It is to step from the known into the
unknown, to look through the lens of another and sit with the uncomfortableness of ‘not
knowing’. This can be a confronting experience for evaluators, especially those who are
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