Dancing with Difference: The Taralala Approach to Evaluation
I recently published an article on the taralala approach to evaluation in New Community.
The article explores a simple idea: evaluation is not just technical—it is relational and epistemic. It involves different ways of understanding what matters, what counts as evidence, and what change looks like.
The taralala offers a way of working with that.
How I Arrived Here
The idea emerged through practice.
Working with staff at Tutu Rural Training Centre in Fiji, I stepped into a discussion to guide it. The conversation didn’t stop—but the rhythm changed. The ease was gone.
I had stepped out of my role. Not formally—but relationally.
That moment stayed with me.
The Taralala
In Fiji, taralala is a social dance—fluid and responsive. Leadership shifts. The dance works because roles are not fixed.
This became a useful way to think about evaluation.
Instead of asking who leads, the question becomes: how does leadership move?
Why It Matters
Different actors bring different ways of understanding the world. These epistemic framings are often present, but rarely made explicit.
Programs can struggle not because they are poorly delivered, but because they are built on different assumptions about the problem.
The taralala approach creates space for these perspectives to be seen—and better understood.
Not necessarily resolved. But made visible.
Further Reading
You can read the full article in New Community.