“The Art(ist) is present”: Arts-based research perspective in educational research

Abstract

A growing interest in the concept of practice within workplace settings has been seen in the last two decades in a variety of fields. Although some authors highlighted the importance of this type of research, there is still a poor scientific understanding of this process. The first serious discussion and analysis of the construction of knowledge emerged during the 1900s. In the field of humanities, questions have been asked regarding the use of traditional research paradigms in terms of its limitation of understanding complex subjects. In line with this perspective, the current article provides an opportunity to advance the understanding of new research paths. Specifically, after an overview on the traditional research paradigms, particular references are devoted to the Arts-Based Research (ABR) approach and to the use of arts within the research processes. Then, this contribution provides a deep exploration of dance-based methods for educational research. As a transdisciplinary approach, the ABR can be used in different fields. For this reason, the current article tries to provide insights about the use of dance-based methods in the educational context. An in-depth literature review will highlight the issues linked to the use of dance in research paths highlights different connotations of it within the research process. The author identified and explored three main uses of dance in academic field.

Keywords

• arts-based research
• dance-based methods
• educational research
• methodology