Arts-Based Educational Research Trajectories

This book offers reflections from Arts-Based Educational Research (ABER) scholars who, since 2005, were awarded the American Educational Research Association ABER Special Interest Group's Outstanding Dissertation Award. The book includes essays from ten awardees who, across diverse artistic disciplines, share how their ABER careers evolve and succeed—inspiring insights into the possibilities of ABER. It also examines the essential role of mentorship in the academy that supports and expands ABER scholarship. Drawing from dissertation exemplars in the field, this book allows readers to look at how ABER scholars learn with the world while creatively researching and teaching in innovative ways

“This text is remarkable for the immense diversity of situating creativity as inquiry in educational research from multiple cultural, theoretical, and substantive perspectives. The scholars in this text demonstrate the interdisciplinary understanding and enactmentof Arts-Based Educational Research, thus allowing the work to exceed the boundaries of education in generative ways. This text is also a pedagogical text that can be used to teach multiple graduate-level classes within education and beyond. Most importantly, this text creates a fertile ground for cognitive, affective, and spiritual shifts that are transformative, offering the reader possibilities for inquiry that exceed traditional expectations.” — Kakali Bhattacharya, Professor. Qualitative Research Program. Research, Evaluation, Measurement. College of Education, University of Florida
“Arts-Based Educational Research Trajectories provides a historically-situated, intergenerational account of ABER, calling attention to how it has – over the last 30 years – forged its space in the academy and among researchers. The essays highlight the art, creativity, and scholarship of ABER as contributors engage storytelling, textual and visual inquiry and reflect on their ABER journeys. ABER Trajectories is the book I needed as a budding ABER scholar, and I am overjoyed to know it is in the world now, further cementing the legitimacy already known to and felt by the scholars who embrace it!” — Qiana Cutts, PhD, Mississippi State University. Arts- Based Educational Research Chair, 2021-2023