Bagele Chilisa is a Botswanan
post-colonial
Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a ...
scholar who has written and spoken extensively about indigenous research and evaluation methodologies. She is a
full professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
at the
University of Botswana
The University of Botswana, popularly known as UB, was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. T ...
,
where she teaches courses on
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
research methods
Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
and
evaluation research
Evaluation is a
systematic determination and assessment of a subject's merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards. It can assist an organization, program, design, project or any other intervention or initiative ...
to undergraduate and graduate students. Chilisa has served as an evaluator on multiple global projects, and is considered to be an important "African thought leader."
Chilisa identifies as a member of the
Bantu people
The Bantu peoples, or Bantu, are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct List of ethnic groups of Africa, ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. They are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Sou ...
of Africa.
Biography
Chilisa was born and raised in the small village of Nshakazhogwe in
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
.
[Chilisa, Bagele. (2012). ''Indigenous research methodologies.'' Los Angeles, CA: Sage. ] Her parents, Motlalepul and Zwambele Kenosi, were
subsistence farmers
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...
.
Her parents, and her grandmother, Ponya Kenosi, passed
oral literature
Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used vary ...
to her as a child,
stimulating her lifelong interest in indigenous knowledge systems. In her book, ''Indigenous Research Methodologies'' (2012), Chilisa states:
I belong to the Bantu people of Africa, who live a communal life based on a connectedness that stretches from birth to death, continues beyond death, and extends to the living and the nonliving. I am known and communicate in relational terms that connect me to all my relations, living and the nonliving. It is common for people to refer to each other using totems as well as relational terms such as ''uncle, aunt, brother,'' and so on. For instance, my totem is a crocodile, and depending on who is talking to me and on what occasion, I can be referred to using my totem.
Education
Chilisa credits her father with teaching her the alphabet before she began attending school. Because her family lived near a village
granary
A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...
, she also learned to count before she began formal schooling.
She attended primary and secondary school in Botswana. From the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
, Chilisa earned her Master of Arts degree in Research Methodology, and her PhD in Policy, Planning, and Evaluation.
Career
Chilisa is a full professor at the University of Botswana, housed in the Post Graduate Research and Evaluation Programme. She teaches courses in research methods and evaluation, and policy design. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Botswana.
Chilisa is a scholar of indigenous research methods,
having published books and journal articles on the topic
and spoken at national and international conferences.
Her research focuses on communities in Botswana and other regions in southern Africa,
but application of her ideas about indigenous research methods are worldwide.
She is hailed as an "African thought leader driving the concept of African-rooted evaluation."
In the preface to her important text,
''Indigenous Research Methodologies'', Chilisa credits her father with instilling within her the "ways in which indigenous practices and values on connectedness and relational ways of knowing of the
colonized
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
Other could be valorized in research."
At the University of Botswana, Chilisa has an extensive record of service. She was a member of the board for the University of Botswana Centre for Scientific Research and Indigenous Knowledge and Innovations, as well as serving on the board of the University of Botswana Research Ethics Committee.
Chilisa has served
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s (NGOs) as an evaluator for international projects including
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
,
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
(UNDP), the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, the
International Labour Organisation, and the
United Nations Children's Fund
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
. Chilisa has received multiple grants from international organizations to do research, including grants from the World Bank, the
National Institute of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1 ...
(USA), and
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
.
In 2018, Chilisa was appointed to serve on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Evaluation Advisory Panel (EAP).
She co-founded the Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia Research Association, was the president of the Botswana Educational Research Association, and edited the ''Botswana Educational Research Journal.''
Published works
* Brannelly, Tula, Rosalind Edwards, Melanie Nind, Helen Kara, Umut Erel,
Helen Moewaka Barnes, Bagele Chilisa, and Amohia Boulton. (2017). "Reflective commentaries," ''Qualitative Research'' 17, no. 3: 351–355. doi:10.1177/1468794117698915
* Chilisa, Bagele. (1999). "New developments in the national examination system in Botswana." ''Educational Measurement: Issues & Practice'', 18, no. 4: 28–29.
* Chilisa, Bagele. (2000). "Towards equity in assessment: Crafting gender-fair assessment." ''Assessment In Education: Principles, Policy & Practice'', 7(1), 61–81. doi:10.1080/713613318=
* Chilisa, Bagele. (2002). "National policies on pregnancy in education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Botswana." ''Gender & Education'', 14, no. 1: 21–35. doi:10.1080/09540250120098852
* Chilisa, Bagele. (2005). "Educational Research Within Postcolonial Africa: A Critique of HIV/AIDS Research in Botswana." ''International Journal Of Qualitative Studies In Education'' (QSE) 18, no. 6: 659–684.
* Chilisa, Bagele. (2006). "'Sex' education: Subjugated discourses and adolescents' voices." pp. 249–261 in C. Skelton, B. Francis, L. Smulyan, C. Skelton, B. Francis, L. Smulyan (Eds.) ''The Sage handbook of gender and education''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. doi:10.4135/9781848607996.n19
* Chilisa, Bagele. (2012). ''Indigenous research methodologies''. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
* Chilisa, Bagele. (2017). "Decolonising transdisciplinary research approaches: an African perspective for enhancing knowledge integration in sustainability science." ''Sustainability Science'', (5), 813. doi:10.1007/s11625-017-0461-1
* Chilisa, Bagele. (2014). "Indigenous research is a journey." ''International Journal Of Narrative Therapy & Community Work'', no. 2: 41.
* Chilisa, Bagele, Irene Mohiemang, Kolentino Mpeta, Tumane Malinga-Musamba, Poloko Ntshwarang, and G. Anita Heeren. 2013. "Why wait ‘til marriage? The determinants of premarital sex among adolescents in a country in Sub-Saharan Africa: Botswana." ''Journal Of Human Behavior In The Social Environment'', 23, no. 8: 972–979. doi:10.1080/10911359.2013.831296
* Chilisa, Bagele, Thenjiwe Emily Major, and Kelne Khudu-Petersen. (2017). "Community engagement with a postcolonial, African-based relational paradigm." ''Qualitative Research'', 17, no. 3: 326–339. doi:10.1177/1468794117696176
* Chilisa, Bagele, Irene Mohiemang, Kolentino Nyamadzapasi Mpeta, Tumane Malinga, Poloko Ntshwarang, Bramwell Walela Koyabe, and G. Anita Heeren. (2016). "Contextualized theory-based predictors of intention to practice monogamy among adolescents in Botswana junior secondary schools: Results of focus group sessions and a cross-sectional study." ''Journal Of Human Behavior In The Social Environment'', 26, no. 6: 533–540. doi:10.1080/10911359.2015.1114820
* Chilisa, Bagele, and Gabo Ntseane. (2010). "Resisting dominant discourses: implications of indigenous, African feminist theory and methods for gender and education research." ''Gender & Education'', 22, no. 6: 617–632. doi:10.1080/09540253.2010.519578
* Chilisa, Bagele, and Gaelebale N. Tsheko. (2014). "Mixed methods in indigenous research: Building Relationships for Sustainable Intervention Outcomes." ''Journal Of Mixed Methods Research'', 8, no. 3: 222–233.
* Commeyras, Michelle, and Bagele Chilisa. (2001). "Assessing Botswana's first national survey on literacy with Wagner's proposed schema for surveying literacy in the ‘Third World’." ''International Journal Of Educational Development'', 21, 433-446. doi:10.1016/S0738-0593(00)00074-2
* Gaotlhobogwe, Michael; Thenjiwe Emily Major; Setlhomo Koloi-Keakitse, and Bagele Chilsa. (2018). "conceptualizing evaluation in African contexts." ''New Directions for Evaluation'', no. 159: 47–62. DOI: 10.1002/ev.20332
* Mertens, Donna M.; Fiona Cram; and Bagele Chilisa (ed.) (2013). ''Indigenous pathways into social research: Voices of a new generation''. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
* Nitza, Amy, Bagele Chilisa, and Veronica Makwinja-Morara. (2010). "Mbizi": Empowerment and HIV/AIDS prevention for adolescent girls in Botswana." ''Journal For Specialists In Group Work'', 35, no. 2: 105-114.
* Sanday, Peggy, Suniti Namjoshi, Ann Graham, Michele Janette, Helen Moffet, Michel Coconis, and Susan A. Comerford, et al. 2001. "Forum: What Challenges Do Feminists in the U. S. Face When Trying to Think Globally?." ''Transformations: The Journal Of Inclusive Scholarship And Pedagogy'', 12, no. 1: 108–22.
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilisa, Bagele
20th-century women scientists
Botswana academics
Academic staff of the University of Botswana
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Bantu