Being an Arts-based Researcher: An Autoethnograpic Examination of an Unconventional Academic Career Path

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Eisner and Contemporary Research

Abstract

Although two AERA presidents, Elliot Eisner and Maxine Greene, have argued convincingly that the arts should play a role in educational inquiry, engaging in what Eisner called arts based educational research (ABER) remains a less-than-conventional academic career pathway. This paper provides a first-person, autoethnographic account of (a) how one academic became involved with arts-based research, (b) his contributions to the arts-based research field, and (c) the overall role arts-based research has played in his career. The paper is designed to begin conversations among young scholars and their mentors about how educational researchers can engage in arts-based research yet still have a successful academic career.

Author

• Robert B. Donmoyer, University of San Diego