—Incorporating creative community collaboration in refining my research methods—

The main three campuses of the Universidad del Mar are located at a six hour drive from the nearest major city of Oaxaca. The road largely consists of hairpin bends through the tropical rainforest of the Sierra Sur mountain range. Common obstacles include fog, flooding, landslides, potholes, and the stray dogs who have an unfortunate tendancy to nap on the warm tarmac surface. So when I arrived at the mechanic, the receptionist took one look at the tyres on my car and a wry smile crept across her face. “Where do you think you’re going with those Formula 1 tyres, city slicker?” 

Standard tools developed in the Global North require reflective and collaborative adaptation to perform well in rural Oaxaca. There is perhaps even an argument to be made against this ‘tropicalisation’ of technologies which follow such individualist, extractivist paradigms. Reflective practice on the part of researchers may be less a question of trying to ‘reinvent the wheel’ and more a case ‘weinventing the real’: adopting an approach whereby the researcher remains open to allowing those they encounter on their journey to not only suggest a change in their means of travel, but also in their final destination. Interculturality suggests a need for both parties to be open to being transformed by the intercultural encounter. An intercultural research paradigm consequently demmands an openness from the research to co-create methodologies and ontolo-epistemologies alongside participants.

I left the mechanic with a shiny new set of wide-width wheels and off-road tyres. But I also left with questions on my mind: Is it time to start taking the bus? Is it time to start ride-sharing on days which coincide with colleagues? Might it be best to consider turning away from the accelerationist mindset of ‘move fast and break things’ and instead try to ‘slow down and mend things’? For this researcher, whose work has focused so much on the damage caused by tests and testing, it is also important to pay close attention to the impact of his own research. This means incorporating a reflective, reciprocal, creative, and community-oriented phase to each cycle of research. 

As my first cycle of research draws to an end, I now recognise the participatory theatre performances I conducted as best fulfilling this purpose. I have presented my research at numerous conferences in Mexico, the UK and Europe without sensing meaningful dialogical engagement with it findings. Often, I have found myself amongst professionals ideologically opposed to endorsing my conclusions and heavily invested in the tools and technologies I critique. At worst, my own participation in some of the more exclusive, hegemonic congresses seems to undermine its grassroots pretensions. I am left feeling isolated and insecure, unsure as to exactly where my hard-won funds have been diverted.  

Centering those voices which have clamoured for a place in my research seems the most natural solution to this problem. Creative communion is not only a vague theoretical aspiration for me; it is a concrete necessity to prove its relevance and provide momentum. These are my thoughts as I prepare for a lunchtime meeting with former students who are planning further performance of ‘False Friends’, the play we wrote together six months ago. Then it will be time to pump some air in my tyres and strap on my helmet before hopping on my bicycle for a leisurely, reflective ride across campus to find out what direction they want to take our collaboration.