Forum theatre is a drama-based dialogic method proposed by Boal (2008) that can be used as a participatory research method to document how young people make sense of the world around them. In forum theatre, collaboratively authored situations are put forward by groups of people working collectively to illustrate instances of oppression. The play…

In this article I offer reflections on my experiences of using autoethnographic and arts-based methodology in order to research within the realm of arts education. This approach enabled me to deeply analyse my own lived-experiences and interact with the work and responses of others. Liminal spaces between identities of artist, researcher and…

Observational research has a long history in many disciplines, such as education and organizational studies, yet has had slow uptake in the scholarship of work-integrated learning (WIL). Observational research enables the researcher to journey inside workplace or community sites where actions and conversations unfold, to unpack the complexities of…

Bringing multimodal and ethnographic approaches together, this paper seeks to identify key considerations, limitations, and implications of using photographs as primary data. We offer a concrete example of an approach that capitalizes on a systematic look at how different modes work together to foreground unique aspects of participation, while…

This article maps the territory of visual ethnography as a key and accessible research methodology in education. It aims to provide an overview and to present theory and practice for future research. The origins and principles of visual ethnography are disclosed as well as some methods to gather data. From the premise that either created by the…

The use of photographs in ethnographic education research is an emerging method that promises to enable scholars to collect deeper, more meaningful data from individuals who may otherwise be silenced. When used to empower participants, photo methodologies can remove what Foucault (1980) described as the analytical "gaze," allowing for…

This article describes the use of linguistic landscaping as a pedagogical resource [Sayer, Peter. 2010. "Using the Linguistic Landscape as a Pedagogical Resource." "ELT Journal" 64 (2): 143-154] for teaching and learning about multilingualism in a graduate course on ethnographic research methods. We present an account of a…

While there have been multiple breaks, shifts and developments within the theories that shape photovoice (i.e. praxis and feminist standpoint theory), they are rarely accounted for in the ways in which photovoice is (re)constituted. In this paper, I ask and engage with the questions: "what might it mean to reconceptualise photovoice through a…

This paper will offer a reflexive account of the research approaches used in linguistically and culturally diverse education contexts by an academic researcher from the hegemonic cultural mainstream. The discussion will cover some of the potential barriers to research with linguistically, ethnically and/or culturally diverse "others" and…

This paper is the outcome of research conducted between June 2010 and January 2011 as part of understanding the building the education revolution (BER) a major policy initiative of the Australian Federal Government which commenced when Julia Gillard, now PM, was the Federal Minister of Education. The BER policy initiative was part of an economic…

In Scotland, as in other legislations, the government and its agencies commission educational research to inform policy and practice development. This provides opportunities for academic researchers, who are under pressure to engage in funded research, to carry their interests forward with some assurance of social usefulness and impact. Many…

Qualitative research, especially visual ethnography, is an iterative not a linear process, replete with good intentions, false starts, mistaken assumptions, miscommunication and a continually revised statement of the problem. That the camera freezes everything and everyone in the frame only complicates ethical considerations. This work, jointly…

People with intellectual disabilities and their families are increasingly being asked to provide input into the services they receive. Under the aegis of the United Nation Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, support plans crucially depend on a participant's articulation of his or her preferences and life goals. Yet, research…

Expanding upon previous theorizing of Art[middle dot]I/f/act[middle dot]ology published in "Qualitative Inquiry" in 2008, this article offers autoethnographic re:collections of a performance/paper presented at the international "Academic Identities in Crisis?" conference at the University of Central Lancashire, held in…

This article addresses the use of video in classroom research. Influenced by the work of Deleuze on cinema, it challenges the mundane realism that continues to regulate video method, and its role in perpetuating what Deleuze calls the "everyday banality" that produces and conceals the "intolerable". In failing to interfere with the everyday…