Designing programs to address poverty and inequality for Australian Aboriginal communities over recent decades has proved problematic. There is a need for greater consideration of different cultural perspectives. A culturally appropriate evaluation framework can provide a range of strategies to embrace cultural difference. Evaluation anthropology, one of many culturally appropriate approaches, emphasises understanding of socio-cultural environments and contexts, and reflective practice to draw attention to cultural bias. This paper will define evaluation anthropology and then reflect on its usefulness in establishing an evaluation framework for a preliteracy program located in a remote Aboriginal community in Australia. The aims of the program are to improve school readiness through developing preliteracy (English language) skills in children aged 0-3 years. Developing an evaluation framework for the program required an approach that accounted for the socio-cultural aspects of literacy development. The lessons from this case study demonstrate the need for place-specific theory to inform program design and evaluation practice.
Austin-BroosD. J. (2011). A different inequality: The politics of debate about remote Aboriginal Australia.Crows Nest, N.S.W: Allen & Unwin.
3.
BatM. (2005). When you can't even buy a bedtime story.Ngoonjook, (27), pp. 43–62.
4.
ButlerM. O. (2005). Translating evaluation anthropology.NAPA Bulletin, 24(1), pp. 17–30. doi:10.1525/napa.2005.24.1.017
5.
ChilisaB. (2012). Indigenous research methodologies.Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
6.
ChouinardJ. A., & CousinsJ. B. (2009). A review and synthesis of current research on cross-cultural evaluation.American Journal of Evaluation, 30(4), pp. 457–494. doi:10.1177/1098214009349865
7.
Copeland-CarsonJ. (2005). Theory building. Evaluation anthropology.NAPA Bulletin, 24(1), pp. 7–16. doi:10.1525/napa.2005.24.1.007
8.
DartJ., & DaviesR. (2003). A dialogical, story-based evaluation tool: The most significant change technique.American Journal of Evaluation, 24(2), pp. 137–155. doi:10.1016/S1098-2140(03)00024-9
9.
DenzinN. K., & LincolnY. S. (2011). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
10.
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2016) Closing the gap. Prime Minister's report 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016 from http://closingthegap.dpmc.gov.au
11.
EadesD. (2013). They don't speak an Aboriginal language, or do they? Aboriginal Ways of Using English.Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Press Studies, pp. 56–75.
12.
EdelmanM., & HaugerudA. (2005). The anthropology of development and globalization: From classical political economy to contemporary neoliberalism.Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 2–74.
13.
EversoleR. (2003). Managing the pitfalls of participatory development: Some insight from Australia.World Development, 31(5), pp. 781–795. doi:10.1016/S0305-750X(03)00018-4
14.
GreyK., PuttJ., BaxterN., & SuttonS. (2016). Bridging the gap both-ways: Enhancing evaluation quality and utilisation in a study of remote community safety and wellbeing with Indigenous Australians.Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 16(3), pp. 15–24.
15.
GubaE. G., & LincolnY. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation.Newbury Park, California: SAGE Publications.
16.
HeathS. B. (1982). What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and school.Language in Society, 11(1), pp. 49–76. doi:10.1017/S0047404500009039
KummererS., & Lopez-ReynaN. (2009). Engaging Mexican immigrant families in language and literacy interventions.Remedial and Special Education, 30(6), pp. 330–343. doi:10.1177/0741932508321014
21.
LancasterL. (2013). Moving into literacy: How it all begins. (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd, pp. 330–343. doi:10.4135/9781446247518.n18
22.
MarkiewiczA. (2012). Closing the gap through respect, relevance, reciprocity and responsibility: Issues in the evaluation of programs for Indigenous communities in Australia.Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 12(1), pp. 19–25.
23.
MartinK. L. (2008). Please knock before you enter. Aboriginal regulation of outsiders and the implications for researchers.Teneriffe, Queensland: Post Pressed.
24.
McNaughtonS. (2006). Considering culture in research-based interventions to support early literacy. In DickinsonD., & NeumanS., Handbook of Early Literacy Research, vol. 2, pp. 229–240. New York: The Guilford Press.
25.
McTurkN., LeaT., RobinsonG., NuttonG., & CarapetisJ. R. (2011). Defining and assessing the school readiness of Indigenous Australian children.Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 36(1), pp. 69–76.
26.
MertensD. M., & WilsonA. T. (2012). Program evaluation theory and practice: A comprehensive guide.New York: The Guilford Press.
27.
MetcalfP. (2005). Anthropology. The basics.New York: Routledge.
28.
Northern Territory Library. (2008). The walk to school. An Indigenous early years literacy strategy for Northern Territory public libraries and knowledge centres. Retrieved 3 December 2016 from http://hdl.handle.net/10070/172810
29.
PenmanR. A. (2006). The ‘growing up’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: A literature review.Canberra: Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
RossinghB., & YunupinguY. (2016). Evaluating as an outsider or an insider: A two-way approach guided by the knowers of culture.Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 16(3), pp. 5–14.
33.
ScougallJ. (2006). Reconciling tensions between principles and practice in Indigenous evaluation.Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 6(2), pp. 49–55.
SpeddingS., HarkinsJ., MakinL., & WhitemanP. (2007). Investigating children's early literacy learning in family and community contexts. Review of the related literature.Adelaide: Office of Early Childhood and Statewide Services. Retrieved 3 December 2016 from http://www.earlyyears.sa.edu.au/files/links/Learning_Together_Lit_Revi.pdf
37.
SmithL. T. (2005). Decolonizing Methodologies. Research and Indigenous Peoples, Dunedin: Zed Books.
38.
WehipeihanaN. (2008). Indigenous evaluation: A strategic objective of the Australasian Evaluation Society.Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 8(1), pp. 40–44.
