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1. This article put into words a lot of my experiences of working in South Central Los Angeles high schools. I was fortunate to work in schools where all the faculty were working towards implementing social justice strategies and empowering the students to reach their full potential. They implemented college and career homerooms, community circles, and had many counselors to ensure all of our students had the support they needed emotionally, academically, and physically to be successful. However, sometimes, I felt like sometimes the students were presented with so much information and research that highlighted how broken/damaged they were due to institutional racism that I would wonder if we were actually doing more harm than good. Like what Tuck said, we don’t want to pretend these harms are not or have not occurred, and it’s important to talk about these things, but I appreciated the way Tuck described a way to put a moratorium on damage-centered research and perhaps focus on the complexities of a desire-centered approach towards our students. How are these students fulfilling their dreams in the face of obstacles that have been presented? I hope that the students I interacted with felt that I saw them as full of promise as they come from families that love them and expect a lot of them.

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1. Some inspiring and/or thought-provoking quotes: These quotes verbalize the ideas and thoughts that I have been questioning and thinking about. As I reflect on my own positionality as a spiritual Christian, question who has the authority to define knowledge and what kinds of knowledge are important, these quotes resonated with me as well as caused me to pause and reflect on my own subconscious positions about these things.

1. “At the heart of such a view of authenticity is a belief that Indigenous cultures cannot change, cannot recreate themselves and still claim to Indigenous. Nor can they be complicated, internally diverse or contradictory. Only the West has that privilege.” p. 84

2. “The arguments of different Indigenous peoples based on spiritual relationships to the universe, to the landscape and to stones, rocks, insects and other things, seen and unseen, have been difficult arguments for Western systems of knowledge to deal with or accept. These arguments give a partial indication of the different world views and alternative ways of coming to know, and of being, which still endure within the Indigenous world. Concepts of spirituality which Christianity attempted to destroy, then to appropriate, and then to claim, are critical sites of resistance for Indigenous peoples.” p. 84

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1. Opinion - This chapter was very authentic in describing the difficulties of getting proper approval and consent for research. It highlights mistakes in the process that sometimes work towards a researcher’s benefit and sometimes against them. It also provides tips on getting authentic, high quality participants. The section on “Abandoning ego, engaging embodiment, embracing liminality” was especially thought-provoking as thoughtful qualitative research requires the researcher to be highly introspective, aware of one’s positionality, and reflective about the space they occupy in the research.

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“For many of us, the research on our communities has historically been damage centered, intent on portraying our neighborhoods and tribes as defeated and broken. For example, on the Aleutian Islands, those of my grandmother’s generation were forced subjects in a range of studies, the purposes of which were concealed from them…It looks to historical exploitation, domination, and colonization to explain contemporary brokenness, such as poverty, poor health, and low literacy.” (pg. 412)

Research focused primarily on suffering, damage, and brokenness can unintentionally reduce communities to those narratives, thus making them seem depleted, hopeless, or permanently harmed. This tends to overshadow their strengths, resistance, and complexity.

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“The project of the Enlightenment is often referred to as modernity. And that project is said to have provided the stimulus for the industrial Revolution, the philosophy of liberalism, the development of disciplines in the sciences. And the development of public education imperialism underpinned and was critical to these developments” (pg. 67).

The Enlightenment is part of the curriculum I teach in 10th grade. The focus is the creation of natural rights and securing liberties, which are central to democracy. Knowledge as a tool of Colonization is an interpretation that was outside of my scope of awareness. It is unsettling to think it facilitated the search for new knowledges and organized systemic means for “representing” and “researching” (cataloging) indigenous experience, commodifying  knowledge.

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"Ethical considerations require that researchers think about the sensitivity of the data retrieved, its use, and how to engage in practices that will avoid deductive disclosure." (p. 126)

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“Damage-centered research…positions communities as broken and in need of repair rather than as complex, contradictory, and in the process of being” (p. 413)

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Knowledge production is entangled with power, who gets to produce knowledge, whose knowledge counts, and how it is disseminated.

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“Some researchers, especially those who practice decolonizing and feminist methodologies, ask directly for research permission. However, if you do this, you should be ready to be told no” (p. 127).

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"Those in a marginalized status have important standpoints on the scene that could be further marginalized if they are not helping guide and shape the research process from the beginning" (Tracy, 2020, p. 133).

This statement emphasizes the researcher's responsibility to tell participants' stories and report experiences with authenticity. Similarly to Tuck's (2009) assertions, Tracy explains that there is a sensitivity with which researchers must engage with study participants, and a care in how participants are presented and portrayed in the narratives that are told about them. Foremost, researchers must be mindful to minimize any degree of harm that could potentially impact participants as a result of the research process. Thus, when navigating the processes from start to finish, it is critical that researchers work to establish a genuine trust and provide a comfortable space for study participants to share openly and honestly, knowing that their voices are respected and accurately represented.

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The ‘benign neglect’ of early government toward Indigenous populations is eerily reminiscent of current GOP policies in many red states.

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It’s odd how famous the Clark and Clark doll tests were (specifically the black child→white doll connection) when the rest of the information (white child→black doll and black child→black doll at a later age) paints an extremely different picture.

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“Desire is involved with the not yet and, at times, the not anymore.”

Good description of desire frameworks

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"Here's a more applied definition of damage-centered research: research that operates, even benevolently, from a theory of change that establishes harm or injury in order to achieve reparation." (Tuck, 2009, p. 413).

I like this quote by Tuck, as I believe it nicely encapsulates the author's main point of the article. While Tuck cautions against the potential for harm in damage-centered research, Tuck acknowledges that recognition of the damages that have been perpetrated against marginalized communities is important, but SHOULD NOT STOP THERE. I agree - It is crucial to acknowledge the historic and continued forms of harm that many communities have endured, lest they be forgotten or ignored. But, to solely focus on such harm, while failing to acknowledge how groups have resisted and demonstrated resiliency in response is irresponsible. Asset-based narratives acknowledge historical truths, including harm and the strengths groups have shown to overcome challenges and barriers.

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“Furthermore, in many examples the indigenous language was used as the medium of instruction and access to the colonizing language was denied specifically. This policy was designed to deny opportunities to participate as citizens.”

I also commonly hear the counterargument that indigenous languages aren’t allowed or taught in colonial schools with the intent to wipe those languages out. I’m assuming T.-S. thinks the best course of action is bilingual education.

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The timeframe of this letter makes me feel uncomfortable. It feels like it should’ve been written so far in the past, but the dates and events Tuck brings up are things I was contemporaneously aware of. It makes me feel old and like these events (correctly) didn’t happen that long ago.

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Tips from Tracy on negotiating access:

Tip #1: do your homework so you come off knowing what you’re talking about

Tip #2: consider your audience. Flashy titles woo some but scare others.

Tip #3: identify gatekeeper(s)

Tip #4: dress for the occasion

Tip #5: consider how you frame things (positive vs negative, length of pitch, technical vocabulary, etc.)

Tip #6: come in with an “access proposal”

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Tuck (2009) - Suspending damage: a letter to communities

Key Takeaways

I understand that damage-centered research reduces communities to pain and brokenness.

I understand that desire-centered research emphasizes complexity, resilience, and possibility without ignoring struggle.

I understand that research must be accountable to communities and contribute to their futures.

Tools

Always ask who benefits from the research and how it serves the community.

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Tuhiwai Smith (2021) - Ch. 3 Colonizing Knowledges

Key Takeaways

This was the chapter that really cemented my interest in decolonizing education and the first time I became familiar with the concept of “modernity” being colonial

The Enlightenment Era solidified the concept of individualistic epistemology as the zenith of knowledge

Said’s positional superiority helps frame this

Colonizers colonize Indigenous knowledges to then use those knowledges to further colonize Indigenous

Ngugi Wa Thiongo

The 18th and 19th centuries can be classified as a stealing of nature, bodies, knowledge, and sciences.

Colonies became “laboratories”

This mindset still impacts research to this day

Social Darwinism as a way to explain phenomena justified racist and colonial missions

The West centers itself as “legitimate” knowledge

The West has appropriated knowledges as Western when it suits their goal while otherizing them as well

Middle East and Arab world are a prime example of this

A key step of colonization efforts was to delegitimize Indigenous knowledge systems through colonial school systems

My research focuses on this

A key step in the decolonial movement has been to “Indigenize” these knowledge systems and to dismantle the assumption that Western knowledge is the pinnacle of knowledge

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Tracy (2025) - Ch. 5 Negotiating access and exploring the scene

Key Takeaways

I understand that negotiating access requires building trust and ongoing relationships

Not just one-time permission

I understand that participants should be treated as collaborators

Consent is continuous and context-specific

I understand that researcher identity shapes access, trust, and the kind of data available

I understand that exploratory methods like participant diaries, maps, and narrative tours provide deeper insight into a site

I understand that ethical concerns extend to online spaces

Privacy must be handled carefully

Tools

Maintain contact logs and prepare clear, access proposals

Frame research in simple, non-threatening language

Practice embodied reflexivity about how identity affects access

In digital research, respect community norms and avoid exploitative practices

Treat rejection and mistakes as part of learning and persistence

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“When discussing the scientific foundations of Western research, the indigenous contribution to these foundations is rarely mentioned” (Tuhiwai Smith, 2021, p. 76).

This quote from chapter three pinpoints a crucial fact that current researchers must consider: the very foundations on which Western research practices were built were exclusive to marginalized groups. By its very design, Western research practices were aimed at favoring and upholding a white supremacist worldview. As researchers, we must be cognizant not to perpetuate this agenda in our work. Rather, we must shift away from practicing colonial ways of doing (which produces colonial ways of knowing), and instead, champion the voices that have been silenced for generations. Creating such opportunities for counternarratives to be told by people sharing their own lived realities will broaden the scope of knowledge that we have at our disposal.

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Tuck argues that communities often define themselves through their history of suffering and damage but advocates for shifting focus from trauma to empowerment. She calls for healing that does not dwell on pain but instead creates new possibilities for agency and growth. Tuck suggests that communities should be recognized for their strengths, not just their struggles.

Example Quote:
"Suspending damage requires us to stop reproducing the damage that has been done to our communities, and to step into a future where we claim our power."

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By acknowledging the colonial history of research, we are reminded that respect for Indigenous knowledge is essential. This can shift how I engage with Indigenous knowledge in my own research.

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This makes me reconsider how I might approach participants in research — ensuring their voices are not only heard but also valued. It encourages me to think about incorporating participatory methods, where communities contribute to the research design, data collection, and interpretation.

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p.422 – I had not necessarily seen such a clear link between survivance and sovereignty before.

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p.73-74 – Thinking about the ways in which Indigenous elites were embedded into Western educational systems as a deliberate effort to both destroy the culture and the community gives a lot more perspective about the urgency of applying the work that Smith has created in our educational research efforts as well.

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P.128 – Imposter participants and outside agitators from right-wing media entities are also important to assess in doing education research.

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Tuck (2009) petitions for researchers to move away from a framework of damage-centered research to desire-centered research. I would add that in an attempt to research racism, colonialism, and structural discrimination, we often lean into damage-centered frameworks to communicate the harm and impact of these structural systems. A desire-centered framework considers hope, vision, and wisdom of communities while acknowledging loss and despair. I also appreciate that a desire framework the not yet and the no more. The example that Tuck (2009) provides of the Stereotype vs Humanistic exhibit helped me understand the difference between a damage-centered versus a desire-centered research approach. I am keeping this in mind as I begin to form my research questions. I will ask myself, “am I approaching this from a damage-centered approach?”

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In Tuhiwai Smith (2022), she proposes that the Enlightenment Period contributed to a process of forming meaning that named or defined Indigenous knowledge as its own. In its framework, the Enlightenment attempts to classify nature, and what was problematic was that Indigenous peoples were classified within the flora and fauna and not as a human society. How Indigenous peoples were classified formed how they were studied, described, and viewed by the academy. As researchers, we must consider the roots of where our personal perspectives, knowledge, and meanings are informed because within that, it will influence our interpretation of findings and description of a phenomenon. For example, Tuhiwali Smith (2022) describes that our worldview may be in opposition to the views of another culture and, consequently, we may not have the language or “methodology for dealing with other knowledge systems” (p. 74). If not considered, this could be problematic to our consideration of the population we are researching. I believe that is why researchers are integrating participant contributions into the findings within their methodologies to ensure accurate representation of a phenomenon.

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Tracy (2024) Chapter 5 reviews different examples of how to negotiate access to a research site and scene. One quote that resonated with me that counters what my initial process to gaining access to a research site is “You may need to reach out to lots of people – researchers, colleagues, volunteers, and employees – before contacting gatekeepers or potential participants. The relationship building garners trust and mutual understanding” (Tracy, 2024, p 120). My main takeaway from this chapter is the importance of building trust and forming a relationship with your research site, scene, and potential participants. Whereas I would instinctively want to reach out to a gatekeeper as an initial point of contact to engage in a research project. However, after reviewing Tracy’s (2024) recommendations, building a connection with your scene is important, especially with sensitive populations. I think this is a point of reflection for me. I am realizing that there is an essence of vulnerability to being a qualitative researcher, because you are putting yourself out there to try to gain access to a scene. It means that you can be rejected for not fault of your own or because you did not manage the trust and relationships well. Also, it is a humbling thought that we may be denied access to a research area not because of the value of the study but because of the sensitivity of the population. This can feel discouraging, but it will require us as researchers to think creatively about our topics or revised topics based on how well we can negotiate access to our scene.

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Damaged Centered research: “Flawed theory of change” while attempts to leverage reparations for marginalized communities, it "simultaneously reinforces and reinscribes a one dimensional notion of these people as depleted, ruined and hopeless” (p. 409).

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“The ones doing the looking are giving themselves the power to define” (Mita, p. 67, Kindle).

Globalization of knowledge and Western culture reaffirms West’s views as the centre of legit knowledge and the source of civilized knowledge, often referred to as universal knowledge. (p. 72, Kindle).

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Qualitative researchers study with participants, rather than conduct research on them” (p. 115, Kindle).

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As in African American communities that have been coarsely expected to have “gotten over slavery by now," Native American and First Alaskan communities are expected to have gotten over the past, which is reduced to the unfortunate birth pangs of a new nation, thus dismissing the very real and ongoing colonization of these communities to the corners of our imaginations.

Yes, it's nice to tell minorities to overcome historical difficulties and traumatic events of the past. Not too many Americans want to hear about getting over September 11th, 2001, for many would find that highly offensive and in poor taste. I am just as confident that telling Jews to get over the Holocaust would not go over well, especially when so many have been condemning the war in Gaza and the active genocide of the Palestinian people.

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As a system of ideas, liberalism focuses  on the individual, who has the capacity to reason, on a society which

Promotes individual autonomy and self-interest, and in a state that has a rational rule of law that regulates a public sphere of Life,

Interpretative: Liberalism is in sharp contrast to collectivism, which is such a natural process, for communities and hierarchies are often collective; we do what we must to be accepted into the collective, and straying away from what is expected often has unintended consequences.

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Researchers must be comfortable letting go of their preconceived notions or assumptions about a culture, people, or learn activity. They must leave their ego, credentials, and jargon-laden academic talk at the door.

Point of Interest to Remember: Sometimes our bias is so subtle, we overlook it and feel it won't affect our research or skew the result. We must be aware and cognizant of our paradigms.

Maintaining your energy and enthusiasm as a researcher can be a challenge.

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Gordon (1997) describes complex personhood as “conferring the respect on others that comes from presuming that life and people’s lives are simultaneously straightforward and full of enormously subtle meaning” (p.5). Our lives go through so many feelings and experiences all at once. As researchers, our job is to embrace complexity and treat each other with dignity. A good researcher is someone mindful about being open, accepting of truths, and avoiding turning someone’s narrative into a stereotype or reflective interpretation.

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In the article, Smith writes that the history of the colonies, from the perspective of the colonizers, has effectively denied other views of what happened and what the significance of historical facts may be to the colonized (p.67). The current administration in place has waged a war on History. It is repeating this process of erasing historical facts and replacing them with historical fiction to make the White community “not feel bad” about what their ancestors did. And most of the history that is being erased or rewritten is Black American history. Black study departments and programs were the first to be defunded and eradicated. Slavery has been watered down to unpaid apprenticeships and volunteer labor. And recently, famous Black portraits and statues have been removed. There were also the devastating effects of what happened to the Latino/Chicano community this summer, with unlawful ICE raids that destroyed families and communities. Racist history is repeating itself, but I am not surprised. We haven’t seen such blatant racism in decades, and many thought we were finally headed towards an equitable society, but those like me knew that Obama winning twice was only going to create a violent rebuttal from those who feel threatened by equality and justice and saw his win as a threat to the White race.

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Tracy writes, “Ethical qualitative researchers pay attention to participants’ wants and needs and do not force their research agenda in a space where it is not welcomed (p. 125). My research topic is for a specific racial demographic of women, so I will not have a major issue trying to get data for my research; however, I am also aware that the questions I will be asking will not apply to all my participants. I have to be mindful that I do not create questions that steer my participants a certain way. The goal is for me to collect data, and it is clear and well thought out. The responses need to come from a place of vulnerability, and wrong-phrased questions will not accurately help me collect data that is significant to my research.

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Am I the only person using GIFs?

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Tuck argues that calling out damage-centered research doesn’t work to fix the or change the circumstances of Indigenous peoples. What does? Can the systems be changed or fixed or destroyed?

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Tuhiwai Smith asserts that once “humans had the capacity for reason,” we created a binary of scientific versus non-scientific knowledge and ways of thinking. I would also posit that we also created specific forums for knowledge distribution and hierarchies of knowledge conveyance that we still use today (i.e., journals, conferences, universities, etc.) (p. 76).

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Love that Tracy acknowledges that researchers should engage in practices that redistribute power in the research process. We should be engaging in practices like triangulation and member-checking to ensure that the stories we tell are representative of our co-researchers’ perspectives (p. 116).