(Re)searching to (re)imagine: Futuring through critical arts based methods

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium explores critical arts-based research (CABR) as a method to share power and build trust in educational research. Through case studies involving higher education faculty, student researchers, PK-20 practitioners, and community partners, we explore how CABR facilitates reflection on systemic challenges and the reimagining of educational futures. Grounded in decolonizing and humanizing frameworks, CABR disrupts traditional researcher-participant power dynamics, fostering co-constructed narratives that embody liberatory dialogue. This session highlights diverse CABR approaches across the U.S., aligned with conference themes of polycrisis, politicization of education, and equity-oriented scholarship intersecting with humanizing methods. The interactive 90-minute format includes an introduction, three presentations, and a dialogue to advance collaborative practices that leverage CABR’s potential to transform educational research and practice.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Arts-Based Educational Research

Chair

• Amanda O. Latz, Ball State University

Papers

• Improvising and Persisting (IP): A Mentoring Model - Vonzell Agosto, University of South Florida; Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, University of South Florida; Lauren Braunstein, University of South Florida; Maria Migueliz Valcarlos, Eastern New Mexico University

• Stagecrafting Change: Socio-Politically Conscious Professional Development for Science Educators - Tara M. Nkrumah, Arizona State University; Elaine Arrieta Bohn, Arizona State University

• Becoming (Re)searchers: Unpacking Researcher-Participant Power Dynamics through Critical Arts-Based Methods - LaSonja Roberts, Western Michigan University; Regina L. Garza Mitchell, Western Michigan University; Beixi Li, Western Michigan University; LaRonda Moore, Western Michigan University

Session Organizer

• LaSonja Roberts, Western Michigan University

Discussant

• Charles F. Vanover, University of South Florida