What are your evaluation stories?
The stories we tell matter.
The kinds of stories we tell, the ways we tell the stories, and who determines what stories are important are all key considerations when we think about the power of evaluation to work towards decolonial futures.
Stories are relational methods, and in my work across Turtle Island story has been a fundamental mechanism for me to lean into the roles and responsibilities I carry to be in good relations with those that I am walking alongside.
How might story show up in your work? Story shows up in reflecting on our identities and who we are as evaluators and why the work of evaluation is important to us. Story shows up in building evaluation relationships - sharing who we are, where we come from, and what it is we hope to build together. Story shows up in how we learn about the program, project, or initiative in the evaluation journey. Story shows up in the processes and products for sharing the learning and findings of our work.
There are many methods for engaging with story in evaluation. This plenary session will share examples of diverse arts-based methods including film, photography, collage, poetry, and podcasting. The session will invite the audience into a poetic inquiry process, to consider how the intentional use of story in their practices could transform how we show up as evaluators to support transformed futures. Using poetic inquiry, the audience will be invited to reflect on the learning that has been gathered during the conference and engage with their evaluation origin stories, learning stories and vision for the future of evaluation stories.
What stories will you take with you from your time at AEA 2023 and how might this shift or strengthen how you show up to transform the field of evaluation?
Dr. Gladys Rowe (she/her) is a Muskego Inniniw (Swampy Cree) person who also holds relations with ancestors from Ireland, England, Norway, and Ukraine. She is a member of Fox Lake Cree Nation, Treaty 5 in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Gladys is an Indigenous Scholar and Artist who has over two decades of experience doing work that supports Indigenous resurgence through many pathways including leading Indigenous evaluation & learning for community organizations, post-secondary institutions, and philanthropic foundations, supporting Indigenous birthkeepers, leading innovation design and capacity building, designing post-secondary and community curriculum, teaching in social work programs, and sharing stories through workshops, poetry, film, and podcasting.
You can learn more about her podcasting here: https://gladysrowe.com/category/indigenousinsights/
And the Stories of Decolonization film project here: https://www.storiesofdecolonization.org/