Theme:
Decolonizing Ancient Traditions and Histories: Indigenous Epistemologies
Shifting the Lens: From Extractive to Relational Research Praxis with the Laman
Banjara Community
Dr. Devayani Tirthali
Educational Researcher, Research Design Consultant
Laman Banjara people recognised as one of the nomadic tribes of India are still recovering
from the British past that named them a ‘criminal tribe’. Currently, a majority of Banjara people
in Osmanabad district and the neighbouring areas work as migrant labourers, with children at
much higher risk of dropping out of school and joining the workforce early. Alienation due to
difference in language of instruction and home language as well as lack of cultural connection
with teachers in government schools is a major reason for apathy towards schooling in Banjara
students leading to lack of foundational skills expected at specific grade levels. In spite of the
AshramShalas (residential schools) and remedial afterschool education interventions, the
situation has not changed markedly.
When working with indigenous communities, collaborative participatory approach that
includes the community and its ways of knowing is necessary, instead of the researcher or the
educators imposing their theoretical and cultural lens. The paper discusses an education
intervention started during the pandemic focused on keeping Banjara children from dropping
out of school and later redesigned as a participatory reflexive practice in collaboration with the
community, the NGO, and the researcher.
It delineates the effort needed for acknowledging the power dynamics between stakeholders
and unsettling the process of instruction and research, moving from extractive to relational
practices, when working with marginalized indigenous populations such as the Laman Banjara.
We built on the community ways of knowing and doing - emphasis on practical application of
skills and knowledge, verifying through repetition, relationality (Tynnan, 2021), and sharing
knowledge in the form of ‘qualitative oral record’, specifically in the form of dialogues and
stories connected to everyday life (Kawagley and Barnhart, 2005).
This deliberative (in interaction with others) work helped us shift the focus from education
bounded by curriculum and school to educating as a process seen in “spaces, moments,
meetings and conversations” (Varenne, 2009) embedded in the community.