*Note: This session has passed. Please view the recording and resources below.

About the session

Let’s get back to some basics! In discussing the utility of a 5Rs framework for engaging in Indigenous research, it is helpful to remind ourselves what is meant by research, Indigenous research, decolonizing research, and how the 5Rs might help us achieve these goals.  

By situating self in relation to spirit, family, community, and nation, Anishinaabe researcher, Jean-Paul Restoule, reminds us that we are known in relation and what can be known is also approached through relationship. In Indigenous research, the process is as important, or more important, than the product or outcome. Therefore, it is important to be conscious of how we come to know.  

Based on Verna Kirkness and Ray Barnhardt’s description of the 4Rs needed for Indigenous success in higher education, this research approach prioritizes respect, responsibility, relevance, and reciprocity as ways to ensure our research is responsive to Indigenous communities.  

In sharing an approach that includes the 4Rs plus relationship as a critical fifth ‘R’, Restoule will also touch on some other key Rs like reverence, refusal, and responsiveness.  

In Anishinaabe approaches, underlying values like wisdom, love, respect, honesty, bravery, humility, and truth are helpful in grounding the researcher. Restoule will touch on the importance of connecting to underpinning local values in conducting Indigenous research as well as implications for Indigenist vs. Indigenous research. 

Speaker

Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule (he/him) is professor and chair of the department of Indigenous education at University of Victoria. He is Anishinabe from Dokis First Nation in Ontario, and his research includes Indigenizing and decolonizing teacher education and investigating the use of Indigenous knowledge in online learning environments. Restoule is also co-editor of Indigenous Research: Theories, Practices, and Relationships (Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2018), a ground-breaking collection for students and scholars interested in learning how Indigenous research is carried out in practice.  

Recording and Resources

• Transcript – Research Speaker Series: Using the 5Rs as an Indigenous Research Framework (PDF)
• Transcript – Research Speaker Series: Using the 5Rs as an Indigenous Research Framework (Word)
• Slides – Research Speaker Series: Using the 5Rs as an Indigenous Research Framework (PDF)
• Link to Research Speaker Series – Fall 2024 Playlist

About the series 

The Research Speaker Series offers participants and presenters an opportunity to learn and share knowledge on research methods, approaches, and pedagogies around accessibility, access, Indigenous engagement, and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in teaching and learning.  

These livestream webinars take place every month from September to December and will allow you to learn about new research directly from the researchers.  

Sessions

1. September 10, 2024 – Arts-based research as paradigm, manifesto and mission for volatile times, Geo Takach, Royal Roads University  
2. October 29, 2024 – Centring digital accessibility in research praxis, Kim Ashbourne, University of Victoria
3. November 26, 2024 – Using the 5Rs as an Indigenous research framework, Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule, University of Victoria
4. December 10, 2024 – Creating communities of care for academic spaces: a critical, collective, and pragmatic approach, Petra Boynton

Learning outcomes 

By the end of this series, participants will be able to:   

• Broaden their knowledge and research skills in the B.C. post-secondary context.
• Learn about Indigenization, EDI, decolonization, and accessibility in research.
• Be inspired to participate in research communities of practice or explore themes in their work.
• Connect with academics and community members who share similar interests.