Emma Elliott

Emma Elliott-Groves is an assistant professor in the department of Learning Sciences and Human Development. She holds both a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (Learning Sciences and Human Development) and a Master of Social Work (Children, Youth, and Families). Much of her research centers on understanding the meanings and explanations of suicidal behavior from the perspective of Indigenous peoples. Her work grows from ethical frameworks generated by Indigenous and land-based knowledges and practices to create process-centered approaches that illuminate Indigenous pathways toward collective livelihood. By employing a strengths-based approach to collective livelihood, Elliott-Groves rigorously engages youth, families, and communities in the development of integrated social and behavioral research and practice to address complex social issues. The interdisciplinary intersections of her research include contemporary Indigenous issues; culture, learning, and human development; and trauma, prevention, and recovery.

Elliott-Groves is a 2019 NAEd Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow, and is currently partnering with her home community, the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island, British Columbia to design programming to strengthen its physical, mental, intellectual, and cultural health. The proposed research study strengthens the assessment capacity within the Cowichan community, by engaging Indigenous and place-based knowledges and practices to collaboratively develop an Intergenerational Community Assessment. Using land as pedagogy, this project engages Cowichan elders, cultural knowledge keepers, community members, and their cultural stories to identify local systems of relationality that ensure individual and collective livelihoods, and in doing so, illuminate collective directions forward. In addition, Elliott-Groves is the principal investigator on another study, "Covid-19: Curveball: Social and Psychological Dimensions of Student Wellbeing and Community Engagement," funded by the Royalty Research Fund, which explores undergraduate students' wellbeing in the areas of physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual health in our current context. 

Elliott-Groves is an affiliate faculty member at the Banks Center for Educational Justice.

Education

Ph.D. Educational Psychology (Learning Sciences & Human Development), College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle.

MSW Social Work (Children, Youth, and Families), School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle.

M.Ed Educational Psychology (Human Development & Cognition), College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle.

Refereed journal articles (*Handbook chapter)

Elliott-Groves, E. & Meixi (2022). Why and how communities learn by observing and pitching in: Indigenous axiologies and ethical attunements in LOPI. [Special Issue]. Journal for the Study of Education and Development/Infancia y Aprendizaje, Learning by Observing and Pitching In to Family and Community Endeavors.

Meixi, Moreno-Dulcey, F. A., Alcalá, L., Keyser Ohrt, U., & Elliott-Groves, E. (2022). When Learning is Life-giving: Re-designing Schools with Indigenous Systems of Relationality. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Open.

Jansen, K., Shaw, J., Comtois, K. A., Elliott-Groves, E., Slaney, T., Avey, J., & Nelson, L. & The CARE Phase 1 Study Team (2021). Culturally Adapting Caring Contacts for Suicide Prevention in Four Alaska Native and American Indian communities. Archives of Suicide Research. DOI: 10.1080/13811118.2021.1967820

Elliott-Groves, E., Hardison-Stevens, D., & Ullrich, J. (2020). Indigenous Relationality is the Heartbeat of Indigenous Existence during COVID-19. [Special issue]. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, Indigenous Communities and COVID-19: Impact and Implications, 9 (3), 158-169.

Henne–Ochoa, R., Elliott–Groves, E., Meek, B. A., & Rogoff, B. (2020). Pathways Forward for Indigenous Language Reclamation: Engaging Indigenous Epistemology and Learning by Observing and Pitching in to Family and Community Endeavors. The Modern Language Journal, 104 (2), 481-493.

Elliott-Groves, E. (2019). A Culturally Grounded Biopsychosocial Assessment Utilizing Indigenous Ways of Knowing with the Cowichan Tribes. [Special issue]. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, Advances in Social Work Practice with Multicultural Communities, 17 (4), 115-133.

Elliott-Groves, E. (2018). Insights from Cowichan: A Hybrid Approach to Understanding Suicide in One First Nations’ Collective. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 48 (3), 328-339. http://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12364

*Elliott-Groves, E. & Fryberg, S. (2017). “A future denied” for 21st century Indigenous youth: Reclaiming the future. Handbook of Indigenous Education. (Eds. McKinley, E. & Smith, L.T.). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1839-8_50-1