ABSTRACT
With the acceptance of postmodern approaches to educational research in the last few decades including feminism, post-structuralism, critical theory, and semiotics, assumptions about what counts as knowledge and the nature of research have dramatically changed. Not only have multiple qualitative research methodologies gained more widespread acceptance, but also the tools we employ to collect data and display findings have been diversified to include artistic as well as traditionally scientific methods. As researchers deploying a range of literary, visual, and performing arts through all stages of our own research, we begin this text with the assumption that the arts have much to offer educational researchers – challenging us to think creatively about what constitutes research; to explore even more varied and creative ways to engage in empirical processes; and to share our questions and findings in more penetrating and widely accessible ways.
