Tuesday, May 13, 11:00 EST
Title: Building Evaluation Capacity through Time Travel as a Methodological Approach
Abstract: This presentation introduces the concept of Sankofa—an Akan philosophy that emphasizes retrieving wisdom from the past to build a better future—and offers it as a framework for ethically navigating time travel in evaluation practices.
This presentation will outline how to ensure ethical practice, evaluators need practical tools that allow for thoughtful reflection and participation. The presentation will introduce frameworks such as participatory storytelling, where communities take ownership of their historical narratives, and reflective practices that help evaluators challenge their biases and assumptions. These tools enable evaluators to ethically reengage with the past while empowering participants to reclaim their stories. Recently, by continually engaging in this cyclical, time-travel methodology with a national housing justice client, UBUNTU evaluators not only deepened their understanding of culturally responsive evaluation but also built capacity for sustainable, justice-oriented practices.
By traveling through time using these tools, evaluators not only challenged dominant narratives but also sparked equitable, imaginative evaluation practices that honor both past and future.This framework equips evaluators to build evaluative capacity so that organizations can effectively conduct evaluations that are not only contextually informed but actively support relational responsibilities and transformative change. This tool supports the building of liberated futures free from harm.
Speaker: Linetta Alexander
Type: Express workshop. 90 minutes
Language: English
Presenters' expertise: A creative, critical thinking Black woman who embeds somatic work and role play in her work with organizations that demonstrate readiness to align their practices with transformational accountability that will lead to liberated futures for all Black folks. Linetta Alexander is an experienced educator and school leader; an alum of UW-Milwaukee with a B.S in English, a post-bac certification in Education, and National Louis University with a Masters of Education in Administration and Supervision. She holds a renewable educational license for 1st thru 8th grades, all subjects, and lifetime licenses for director of instruction and principal.
Before joining forces with UBUNTU in 2020, she worked in educational institutions to advance adolescents and adults both academically and socially to overcome the challenges of inequity in Black density schools in the city of Milwaukee. She currently serves on the Milwaukee K-12 Civic Action Team, Milwaukee Succeeds, CREA, AEA, feminist and education TIGS, and is a restorative practitioner, mom, pet parent, and playwright.
Workshop level: Beginner
Prerequisite knowledge: 1. Foundational understanding of evaluation practices: Familiarity with general evaluation methodologies. 2. Culturally responsive evaluation principles: Awareness of practices that consider cultural context and the importance of inclusivity in evaluation. 3. Participatory methods: Basic knowledge of participatory storytelling and community engagement approaches. 4. Reflective practices: Experience with or openness to self-reflection, particularly in addressing biases and assumptions in professional work. 5. Social Justice Orientation: An understanding of equity-focused work and how evaluations can contribute to justice-oriented outcomes.
Learning objectives:
1. Understand Ethical Time Travel in Evaluation: Participants will learn the principles of the Sankofa framework and how to apply it ethically in evaluation practices to honor historical narratives and inform future-oriented justice work.
2. Develop Practical Evaluation Tools: Participants will gain hands-on experience with participatory storytelling and reflective practices that empower communities and challenge biases in evaluation processes.
3. Enhance Capacity for Justice-Oriented Evaluation: Participants will explore how to build organizational and individual capacity for conducting evaluations that support transformative, equity-focused change and relational accountability.
Teaching strategies : Introduction (10 minutes): Overview of the topic, objectives, and the Sankofa framework.
Conceptual Foundations (15 minutes): Detailed explanation of ethical time travel, participatory storytelling, and reflective practices, with real-world examples.
Tools and Frameworks (15-20 minutes): Demonstrate practical tools and time travel methodology.
Group Activity (20-25 minutes): Breakout sessions for participants to practice applying the tools, such as analyzing a scenario using the Sankofa framework or creating a brief participatory storytelling plan.
Discussion and Sharing (10-15 minutes): Groups convene to share insights.
Reflection and Q&A (10 minutes): Facilitated reflective discussion to connect activities to the larger objectives.