onekihikomâwiwin (Parenthood): Implementing a Community-Engaged, Decolonial Study on Developmentally-Supportive Cree Parenting

• In Event: The importance of Indigenous knowledge and culture for parenting and educating Indigenous children.

Abstract

Parenting practices in early childhood are key to supporting healthy child development (Bornstein, 2019; Verhoeven et al., 2019). Researchers have been studying parenting for decades and attempting to identify universal behaviours, approaches, qualities, and patterns that describe parenting and predict child outcomes (e.g., Baumrind, 1965; Skinner et al., 2005). This research has primarily been done within White, Western, and Eurocentric contexts and samples (Bornstein, 2015; Power, 2013). However, in the limited culturally and ethnically diverse work, researchers have found variability in the number, content, behavioural expression, and links to child outcomes of different parenting practices (Bornstein, 2012, 2015; Power, 2013; Power et al., 2013). Thus, practitioners working with diverse families need an understanding of parenting within different cultures to inform best practices in supporting families in a culturally responsive manner.
Understanding parenting in Indigenous families is particularly important given the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in child protective services (CPS) and Canada’s history of oppression and forced assimilation (Government of Canada, 2019; Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada [TRCC], 2015). Unfortunately, meaningful Indigenous parenting research is scarce (Cheah & Chirkov, 2008; Muir & Bohr, 2019). To inform government policies, CPS decision-making, and culturally responsive parenting supports and interventions, there is a need for high-quality and decolonial research on Indigenous parenting practices that support child development and learning.
Therefore, this study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the parenting experiences of Indigenous parents from one group by asking: What are the parenting stories of Cree parents (i.e., any child-rearing adult) raising young children? The sub-questions to be addressed are: (1) How do these stories reflect the parents’ cultural beliefs, values, and practices related to parenting and child development? and (2) What do these stories tell us about developmentally supportive parenting in Cree families?
This study is in the relationship-building phase. Using a community-engaged and decolonizing approach, I have partnered with an organization providing culturally responsive services supporting early childhood development in Cree families in Alberta. In partnership with this organization, approximately 10 Cree parents raising children five years and under will be invited to participate in this study. To guide this research, Cree Elders and Knowledge Keepers have formed a community-based committee to guide this study in design, data collection, implementation, and knowledge mobilization. Data generation will involve narrative interviews (Kim, 2016) guided by principles of Indigenous storytelling (Kovach, 2021) to gather participants’ parenting stories. To address the research questions, interviews will be analyzed and interpreted using a two-pronged approach of restorying and thematic analysis (Polkinghorne, 1995). Participants, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers will be invited to partake in analysis and mobilization of findings within their communities, academia, the social-serving sector, and government.
In this presentation, process data and learnings about conducting community-engaged, decolonial research with Indigenous communities and families will be shared using a storytelling approach to describe the study design and implementation thus far. By sharing these experiences and learnings through storytelling, I hope to contribute to the understanding of meaningful and decolonial child development research with Indigenous peoples.

Authors

• Kirsty Keys, University of Alberta
  Presenting Author

• Christina Rinaldi, University of Alberta

• Rebecca Gokiert

• Melissa Tremblay