Two-Eyed Seeing as a strategic dichotomy for decolonial nursing knowledge development and practice

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Indigenous Studies
• Philosophy of Science

Background:

• Nursing knowledge development requires contextual and relational frameworks.
• Two-Eyed Seeing, from Mi'kmaw Elders, integrates Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges.
• Concerns exist that Two-Eyed Seeing may reinforce dichotomies between knowledge systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the worldview roots of Two-Eyed Seeing.
• To propose that its core principles are antithetical to divisiveness.
• To assert its potential for transforming nursing scholarship and practice.

Main Methods:

• Exploration of local worldviews underpinning Two-Eyed Seeing.
• Analysis of the framework's onto-epistemological and axiological foundations.
• Consideration of implications for nursing scholarship and practice.

Main Results:

• The onto-epistemological and axiological roots of Two-Eyed Seeing are fundamentally non-divisive.
• The framework paradoxically accommodates dichotomies while promoting relational understanding.
• Two-Eyed Seeing offers a decolonial praxis for nursing.

Conclusions:

• Two-Eyed Seeing, as a relational praxis, can foster diverse knowledges and ways of being in nursing.
• Conceptual divisiveness in nursing can be mitigated through contextual knowledge and accountable partnerships.
• Positive regard for the Mi'kmaq worldview is essential for effective Two-Eyed Seeing implementation.