Creative Research Methods in Education - by Helen Kara & Narelle Lemon & Dawn Mannay & Megan McPherson (Paperback)

About the Book

Co-authored by an international team of experts across disciplines, this important book is one of the first to demonstrate the enormous benefit creative methods offer for education research. It illustrates how using creative methods, such as poetic inquiry, theatre and animation, can support learning and illuminate participation and engagement.

Book Synopsis

Co-authored by an international team of experts across disciplines, this important book is one of the first to demonstrate the enormous benefit creative methods offer for education research.

You do not have to be an artist to be creative, and the book encourages students, researchers and practitioners to discover and consider new ways to explore the field of education. It illustrates how using creative methods, such as poetic inquiry, comics, theatre and animation, can support learning and illuminate participation and engagement. Bridging academia and practice, the book offers:

- practical advice and tips on how to use creative methods in education research;

- numerous case studies from around the world providing real-life examples of creative research methods in education practice;

- reflective discussion questions to support learning.

Review Quotes

"This is a well-written, accessible and thought-provoking book that promotes the use of creative methods in educational research in a balanced way... I am very glad to have the book on my shelf and would definitely recommend it to students, but also to researchers wanting to reflect on their practice." International Journal of Research & Method in Education

"While giving clear and practical advice, with lots of case study examples, the book also speaks with a friendly authority that makes it feel both reassuring and inspiring." Social Research Association Research Matters

About the Author

Helen Kara has been an independent researcher since 1999 and writes and teaches on research methods and ethics. She is the author of Research Ethics in the Real World: Euro-Western and Indigenous Perspectives (Policy Press, 2018) and Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide (2nd edn, Policy Press, 2020). She is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. In 2015 Helen was the first fully independent researcher to be conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Narelle Lemon is an educator, researcher, writer and creative having studied classical music and visual arts. She currently works as an Associate Professor in Education at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia and supports the development of future teachers. Narelle's overarching research area is focused on participation and engagement. She explores this through a variety of avenues including social media use for learning and professional development; creativity and arts education; and positive psychology specifically focused on mindfulness.

Dawn Mannay is a Reader in Social Sciences (Psychology) at Cardiff University, Wales, UK. Her research interests include class, gender, education and inequality, and she employs visual, creative and participatory methods in her work with communities. Dawn's publications include Visual, Narrative and Creative Research Methods: Application, Reflection and Ethics (Routledge, 2015), Emotion and the Researcher: Sites, Subjectivities, and Relationships (Emerald, 2018), Children and Young People 'Looked After'? Education, Intervention and the Everyday Culture of Care in Wales (University of Wales Press, 2019); and The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods (SAGE, 2019).

Megan McPherson is a practising artist, a Research Fellow at the Research Unit for Indigenous Arts and Cultures, and an academic at The Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at The Victorian College of The Arts, the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on the learning experiences of artists and the spaces these practices are enacted with agency and justice. Megan has exhibited artworks since 1988. She has published in the areas of scholarship of learning and teaching in higher education; subjectivities, agency and affect in the university studio; and social media use in academia.