Kapwaan Conceptual Framework: Towards a Filipino-centered Epistemology in Educational Leadership

• In Event: Struggling Through Together: AAPI and Asian Diaspora Leadership Perspectives

Abstract

Purpose:
Despite demographic shifts, women and people from diverse backgrounds continue to be underrepresented at the highest levels of educational leadership (Skeete, 2017). The prevailing leadership approaches rooted in colonial practices, intertwined with modern leadership strategies, perpetuate the ongoing colonization of marginalized students and their communities. Failure to diversify our schools submits us to the imposing influence of Western cultural values of individualism and competition over the collective, thereby reproducing similar school leadership and school community mindsets (Benham, 2002). Considering the underrepresentation of Asian American leaders, this study explores the following question: How does Filipino epistemology inform the leadership of Filipino American educational leaders in schools?

Perspectives:
This study engages practicing Filipino American educational leaders in distinct ways from traditional empirical studies. Through this process, participants explore the relationship between their cultural identity and leadership practices, developing agency, confidence, and contextual knowledge that enables them to challenge their colonial mentality.

Methods:
For centuries, Western theories have dominated the field of research methodologies and theoretical frameworks. The inherent cultural bias in these theories has led to the misrepresentation of Filipinos and other marginalized groups, who are underrepresented among researchers in the field. Applying traditional Western psychological models is insufficient to capture the distinctive features of Asian cultures (Pe-pua & Marcelino, 2000). In Indigenous Filipino research methodologies, understanding the various modes of social interaction among Filipinos is important and necessary. Thus, the quality of information is linked with the quality of relationships one has with the participant.

This qualitative study employed Filipino epistemological research and data collection methods (pagtatanong-tanong (asking questions) and pakikipagkwentuhan (engagement through storytelling)) to capture authentic insights of the Filipino experience. These methods concentrate on the context of the participants and their lived experiences, ensuring the findings are culturally relevant and meaningful and aiming for more open-ended and casual conversations to collect qualitative data (Orteza, 1997).

Conceptual Framework:
The narratives of the participants were examined and interpreted using Enriquez’s (1975) Sikolohiyang Pilipino framework. This approach utilizes local languages as a means of identifying and rediscovering Indigenous concepts. This framework is based on the concept of “indigenization from within,” which involves studying Indigenous behaviors within their own culture, examining people's beliefs and knowledge about themselves in their natural setting rather than through Western constructs that may not be entirely applicable to the Filipino context (Enriquez, 1992).

Connection to Conference:
This research examined the collectivistic cultural characteristics of Filipino American participants and their manifestation in educational leadership roles. This research study presents an alternative approach to leadership and methodology, consistent with Indigenous ways of thinking and doing research. It contributes to the understanding of different leadership approaches in the field of education. Additionally, it emphasizes the significance of Indigenous cultural values in leadership and research methodologies as a form of resistance.

Author

• Virgilio Caruz, Milpitas Unified School District