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Showing papers in "Curriculum Inquiry in 2002"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article explored the artistic and aesthetic qualities of the work of researchers in a metaphorical three-dimensional narrative inquiry space as a way to explore the aesthetic and artistic dimensions of experience, and showed how a mother was engaged in an artistic and artistic composition of her life experience.
Abstract: As we entered into Eisner and Powell’s exploration of the artistic and aesthetic qualities of the work of researchers, we were drawn toward deeper questions of our own lives as narrative inquirers. In particular, we thought about a metaphorical three-dimensional narrative inquiry space as a way to explore the aesthetic and artistic dimensions of experience. By returning to field texts of our recent work alongside Darlene, a mother we met on the landscape of an inner-city school context, we show how she was engaged in an artistic and aesthetic composition of her life experience. Our account also reveals how, as narrative inquirers engaged with Darlene, we, too, were composing artistic and aesthetic stories to live by.

142 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors advocate for explicitly teaching prospective and practicing teachers about the concept of discourse, arguing that teachers, children, and families are positioned in very particular ways in relation to one another within discourses, and that learning to examine the discourses through which we enact our teaching lives provides opportunities to select those discourses that allow for the creation of positive social and academic identities for the children in our care.
Abstract: In this article I advocate for explicitly teaching prospective and practicing teachers about the concept of discourse. Within discourses, teachers, children, and families are positioned in very particular ways in relation to one another. Learning to examine the discourses through which we enact our teaching lives provides us with opportunities to select those discourses that allow for the creation of positive social and academic identities for the children in our care. The ideas for this article evolved from conversations that I had with a student enrolled in a graduate-level child growth and development course. Her provocative ideas and insights caused me to question my teaching and explore how our class struggled to speak and act within two discourses, a child-centered discourse and a sociocultural discourse. I discuss the tensions that we experienced in our university classroom as we challenged ourselves to understand the shifts in our identities as they were constructed within a sociocultural ...

123 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the autobiographic writing of teachers who participated in a graduate course on autobiography and professional development, drawing on phenomenological (Van Manen 1990) and narrative methods (Mishler, 1986) and attending to issues of voice (Raymond, Butt, & Townsend, 1992, Brown & Gilligan, 1992) and "restorying" (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996, 1998).
Abstract: Recent research demonstrates that the process of telling and writing personal stories is a powerful means of fostering teachers’ professional growth (Connelly & Clandinin, 1995; Conle, 1996; Diamond, 1994; Heikkinen, 1998; Kelchtermans, 1993). This article aims to further understanding of writing in the development of teachers’ narratives of practice, and to critically examine the potential of the writing workshop as a space where diverse voices can find expression. I take up a narrative perspective, seeing the practice of teaching as constructed when teachers tell and live out particular stories. I examine the autobiographic writing of teachers who participated in a graduate course on autobiography and professional development, drawing on phenomenological (Van Manen, 1990) and narrative methods (Mishler, 1986) and attending to issues of voice (Raymond, Butt, & Townsend, 1992, Brown & Gilligan, 1992) and “restorying” (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996, 1998). The main questions addressed are how do teach...

114 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Group collages as discussed by the authors are a pedagogical tool that combines visual, textual, and oral representations of subject matter to examine whiteness with predominantly white students in teacher preparation programs by the use of group collages.
Abstract: In this article, I describe how I initiate an examination of whiteness with predominantly white students in teacher preparation programs by the use of group collages—a pedagogical tool that combines visual, textual, and oral representations of subject matter. In doing so, I illustrate one of the ways teacher educators can provide students with opportunities to (1) “see” whiteness as an integral aspect of educational discourse, (2) fix their gaze on themselves as a collective racial group, and (3) engage in processes aimed at changing beliefs, stereotypes, and practices that reproduce social and educational injustice.

105 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined the case of an often marginalized group, disabled students, and asked whether they are present in the texts of critical pedagogies, concluding with a discussion of the tensions between inclusive theory and inclusive practice and, finally, suggesting the constraints under which inclusive practices operate.
Abstract: One of the scholarly debates of the last decade has been about the discourses of pedagogy and pedagogy’s function in society. As a result, pedagogy has been critically theorized, conceptualized, and analyzed, resulting in a body of work that adheres to the importance of understanding the human subject in pedagogy. Liberatory pedagogies, particularly critical pedagogies, are concerned with students who traditionally have been marginalized in school. Using a blend of autobiography and criticism, this article examines the case of an often marginalized group, disabled students, and asks whether they are present in the texts of critical pedagogies. The article concludes with a discussion of the tensions between inclusive theory and inclusive practice and, finally, suggests the constraints under which inclusive practices operate.

80 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, two research programs on the use of textbooks for a variety of school subjects by elementary-school teachers in Quebec are presented, highlighting the main analytical orientations pertaining to textbooks both in Quebec and elsewhere, and presenting the importance and the role that textbooks, in Quebec elementary teaching, have had over the past 40 years.
Abstract: This article draws from two research programs on the use of textbooks for a variety of school subjects by elementary-school teachers in Quebec. Highlighting the main analytical orientations pertaining to textbooks both in Quebec and elsewhere, it first distinguishes between textbooks and schoolbooks, and then presents the importance and the role that textbooks, in Quebec elementary teaching, have had over the past 40 years. Lastly, the article portrays the state of research on textbooks, unveiling the need for a comprehensive, situated approach in research on textbooks, as well as work focused on how teachers use them and on the impact of this use on both practice and learning.

73 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For instance, this paper conducted a study of the role of artistry in the practice of research in the social sciences and found that science has a personal side as well as a public one.
Abstract: This article presents the results of a study of artistry in the practice of research in the social sciences. Traditionally, science and art have been regarded as complementary, one dealing with the expression of feeling, the other with the pursuit of truth. Art, it is widely believed, is largely ornamental in life—nice but not necessary; science is critical to the future. Yet science has a personal side as well as a public one. What is the personal side of science like for those engaged in research in the social sciences? Do artistic considerations function in doing science? If so, where and when? We interviewed social scientists who were fellows at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences to secure insight into the role that artistry might play in the course of their work. This article describes what we learned.

60 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the main contours of John Dewey's conception of an environment for teaching and learning and showed how his conception derives from two components of his philosophical anthropology: (1) his understanding of the nature of a growing self, and (2) his view of how human beings influence one another.
Abstract: In this article, I examine the main contours of John Dewey’s conception of an environment for teaching and learning. I show how his conception derives from two components of his philosophical anthropology: (1) his understanding of the nature of a growing self, and (2) his view of how human beings influence one another. With this background in place, I examine why Dewey argues that an environment for teaching and learning should be what he calls “simplified, purified, balanced, and steadying.” I discuss how Dewey distinguishes an educative environment from what he calls “surroundings.” Finally, I address why he argues that teachers should not focus directly on learning, but rather on the environment that obtains in the classroom. Throughout the article, I try to show how timely and powerful Dewey’s conception of an environment remains—for teachers, teacher educators, and all who care about meaningful teaching and learning.

50 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how the administration of a multiracial, working-class high school in Durban, South Africa produces "white" in an era of political and social transition.
Abstract: As a social and cultural phenomenon, race is continually remade within changing circumstances and is constructed and located, in part, in institutions’ pedagogical practices and discourses. In this article I examine how the administration of a multiracial, working-class high school in Durban, South Africa produces “white” in an era of political and social transition.As the population of Fernwood High School (a pseudonym) shifts from majority white working class to black working class, the school administration strives to reposition the school as “white,” despite its predominantly black student population. This whiteness is not only a carryover from the apartheid era, but is actively produced within a new set of circumstances. Using the discourses and practices of sports and standards, the school administration attempts to create a whiteness that separates the school from the newly democratic nation-state of South Africa. Despite students’ and some staff’s general complacency and outright resistanc...

40 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative case study analyzes the process of writing academic standards in one U.S. state, Missouri, taking a critical pragmatic approach, which entailed close examination of t...
Abstract: This qualitative case study analyzes the process of writing academic standards in one U.S. state, Missouri. The researchers took a critical pragmatic approach, which entailed close examination of t...

38 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article explored the function of vicarious experience in relation to several candidates' practical knowledge and found that students could develop resonance-type responses to a multitude of segments from autobiographical works.
Abstract: Looking at student teachers’ assignments in an educational foundations course, we explore the function of vicarious experience in relation to several candidates’ practical knowledge. Finding that students could develop resonance-type responses to a multitude of segments from autobiographical works, we explore what can be recognized about the usefulness of such responses in relation to particular students’ practical knowledge and action. Three hypotheses are developed concerning the connections we recognized among vicarious experience, resonance, and practical knowledge.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A response to Andrew Gilbert's review of Going against the Grain: Supporting the Student-Centered Teacher is given in this article, with a discussion of the student-centered teacher.
Abstract: (2002). Response to Andrew Gilbert’s Review of Going against the Grain: Supporting the Student-Centered Teacher. Curriculum Inquiry: Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 493-503.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the works of Hannah Arendt and their potential for reconstituting the theoretical premises of pedagogy, and explore the need for, and significance of, recognizing and responding both to oneself and others in the search for an ethical praxis.
Abstract: This article serves as both a response to, and a critique of, Susan Gabel’s discussion on the theoretical limits of critical pedagogy. It begins by exploring the works of Hannah Arendt—in particular her concern with the ethical significance of “acts of recognition”—and their potential for reconstituting the theoretical premises of pedagogy. The paper also explores Arendt’s conceptual idea about the need for, and significance of, recognizing and responding both to oneself and others in the search for an ethical praxis. It thus opens up a potential theoretical space for responding to the ethical limits and theoretical impasses that are currently manifest in contemporary visions of pedagogy. At the level of critique, a central argument is that perhaps we need to work more diligently at a theoretical level to resolve the epistemological, ontological, and existential tensions residing at the center of critical pedagogy, rather than restrict our analysis to cultural critique alone. Such analyses are ind...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that although there is a place for technical skills in teacher education, making them the centerpiece of teaching and teacher education overlooks, and even does violence to, the deeper motivations and calling that prompt so many people to become teachers and that also shape not only what they choose to teach but also how they decide to teach it.
Abstract: In North America and the United Kingdom, there has been a spate of calls recently for performance or outcomes-based teacher education. The authors argue that although there is a place for technical skills in teacher education, making them the centerpiece of teaching and teacher education overlooks, and even does violence to, the deeper motivations and calling that prompt so many people to become teachers and that also shape not only what they choose to teach but also how they choose to teach it. The authors challenge narrowly technical views of teaching by drawing on images of teaching as prophecy and teachers as prophets.Prophesy: in its root meaning, the calling of a people, via criticism and affirmation, to their noblest traditions and aspirations. Prophesy, I would submit, is the essential public function of the educator in a democratic society. (Cremin, 1976, p. 77)

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reject the assumption that art and science are dichotomous in favor of a holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of the intimate relationship between the arts and sciences, and argue that artistic modes of thought and aesthetic experiences are essential to the cognitive and expressive development of students.
Abstract: This article rejects the assumption that art and science are dichotomous in favor of a holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of the intimate relationship between the arts and sciences. The authors advance the notion that artistic modes of thought and aesthetic experiences are essential to the cognitive and expressive development of students and to the quality of the instructional milieu orchestrated by teachers. The authors respond affirmatively to Eisner and Powell’s rhetorical question as to whether or not we can think about education as a process aimed at preparing the artist, and they discuss several projects designed to advance the arts in education by integrating aesthetics into the philosophical understandings of teaching and learning. The authors diverge from Eisner and Powell on one significant issue: the nature of the aesthetic experience. Instead, they propose a Deleuzean reading of synthetical moments and experiences of profound insight that merge time, space, and self in a seam...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a series in Curriculum Inquiry on Arts-Based Educational Research, which promotes the "becoming" of individuals and of academic, professional knowledge communities through arts-centred educational inquiry.
Abstract: We are delighted as co-editors to welcome you to a new Series in Curriculum Inquiry on Arts-Based Educational Research. This series promotes the “becoming” of individuals and of academic, professional knowledge communities through arts-centred educational inquiry. Becoming is both a refusal merely to repeat the old ways and a gathering together of momentum toward new ways yet to come. We seek in this series to provide examples of and reflect on arts-based inquiry as the imaginative expression of educational experience through using literary, visual, dramatic, humanistic, and nonexpository forms. In this issue, we represent the stories of scientists and artists, academics and administrators, students and teachers, and of the privileged and the oppressed as diverging pathways that later intersect farther along the inquiry landscape—but never entirely merging. Together with “Girls and Women in Education” and within the context of “Personal Practical Knowledge” approaches (the other two series in this journal), we explore different (and similar) ways of charting educational

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Christine and Patrick as mentioned in this paper place this issue, 32(3), within the context of that previous issue, and weave its threads with those spun from Part I into an arts-based damask-like fabric.
Abstract: We (Christine and Patrick) hope that our previously marked correspondences between art and science in Curriculum Inquiry 32(2), if now faint, can still be traced and so can be re-marked (on) and deepened here. Again featuring a Special Series on Arts-Based Educational Research, we place this present issue, 32(3), within the context of that previous issue, 32(2): Part II weaves its threads with those spun from Part I into an arts-based damasklike fabric. In Part I, the dialogue initiated by Eisner and Powell’s (2002) paper, “Art in Science?” allowed us to search for overlaps and correspondences. We now conclude this issue with two further responses to it: one by Slattery and Langerock, and another by Sullivan with McCrary. To it, we add Salvio’s review of four arts-based texts, and a book review by Sawyer. We then weave these threads together with those offered by the other contributions in this issue: articles by Hansen; Placier, Walker, and Foster; Bullough Jr., Patterson, and Mayes, followed by a dialogue with Summers, and Mildon. Placed together, these texts provide “a provocative assembling of proliferations, crossings, and overlaps, multiple openings and networks,

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The issue of Curriculum Inquiry as discussed by the authors focused on multiculturalism, understanding difference, and ways of relating to self, others, and the world, concepts that have been fundamentally challenged by the magnitude of the 9/11 attacks.
Abstract: On September 28, 2001, the Chronicle of Higher Education featured scholars in a variety of disciplines reflecting upon September 11, 2001 and its aftermath. As we were reading and discussing their controversial comments, and continuing to experience dramatic threats to everyday life in the United States, we were composing this editorial. We saw this issue of Curriculum Inquiry as one focused on multiculturalism, understanding difference, and ways of relating to self, others, and the world—concepts that have been fundamentally challenged by the magnitude of the catastrophe. The world landscape around us is fluctuating—politically, economically, socially, academically. People are filled with uncertainty and fear. In response to uncertainties and fears some are looking for vengeance, others are searching for new ways to examine the past, live evolving change, and imagine the future. As we discussed the articles and reviews, we found our conversations woven together with the deep fears and growing questions engulfing us. In the midst of this turmoil we wondered if there are ways for educators to raise awareness of, and develop dialogue on, global issues to enhance mutual respect and understanding, to develop compassion, empathy, and acceptance, and to create possibilities to cultivate world community. It is with the cataclysmic events of September 11 emblazoned in our minds, with compassionate thoughts in our hearts, that we look at issues discussed in the articles and reviews in this issue of Curriculum Inquiry—in areas as diverse as Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and, ultimately, how these issues impact globally. Themes running through most of this issue concerning teaching, learning, researching, and living resonated with literature we have been reading

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the importance of social contexts and the gendering of teaching in the context of supporting student-centered teacher training, and discuss how teacher educators can help new teachers make that connection a reality.
Abstract: In this rejoinder I hope to clarify some of my arguments, answer questions Aaronsohn has posed back to me, and continue the conversation concerning Professor Aaronsohn's book Going against the Grain: Supporting the StudentCentered Teacher. To begin, I wish to thank Professor Aaronsohn for her response to my review. It is exactly this kind of dialogue that can deepen our understanding for supporting beginning teachers in their classrooms. Her discussion of several key issues has provided more insight into the goals and approaches of her research, which was the point of many of my original questions about her work. The main themes that will comprise this rejoinder include: Aaronsohn's wish that I had talked about what was in the book rather than what was left out, clarifying theoretical positions, the importance of social contexts, and, lastly, the gendering of teaching. It is important to reiterate that Professor Aaronsohn and I share similar views for what it means to teach all children in effective and meaningful ways that positively impact the lives of students. However, judging from Aaronsohn's comments, I apparently did not make my understanding and view of Sheila's practice clear enough in my original review. I felt that Sheila's teaching was both innovative and engaging and that Sheila did create a classroom practice that any constructivist educator would consider exceptional. My questions were more concerned with how Sheila arrived at that place and how do we help other student teachers get to that same point. Furthermore, I did not consider her pedagogy to be mere "tricks" or gimmicks that did not positively affect the lives of her students and any implication of this was unintended. Rather, I was more concerned with how Sheila (and Aaronsohn) connected student-centered theory to studentcentered practice and how teacher educators can help new teachers make that connection a reality? To answer this question, I look forward to Aaronsohn's new book The Uncovered Curriculum. Aaronsohn's wish that I included more of what was in the book rather

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, two edited/shaped pieces of conversation between a retired marine biologist and her daughter are described. The first conversation takes place on a Florida mudflat, the second in a North Carolina kitchen.
Abstract: This article offers two edited/shaped pieces of conversation between a retired marine biologist and her daughter. The first conversation takes place on a Florida mudflat, the second in a North Carolina kitchen. These conversations suggest the biologist’s “intimacy with the environment of the mudflat,” a lifetime of discovery and surprise in relation to that environment, and the role of aesthetic response in her motivation for scientific work. They affirm Eisner and Powell’s (2002) assertion in “Art in Science?” that the work of science has a deep relation with aesthetic response.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper pointed out inaccuracies or misunderstandings in Dillabough's account of disability studies, debate her on several points, and in the end, respond to her key question of me in which she asks, "To what end do we engage in this struggle and with what key issues in mind?" Implied throughout my rejoinder is a dual position on ethics.
Abstract: my rejoinder to do three things: (1) point out inaccuracies or misunderstandings in her account of disability studies; (2) debate her on several points; and (3) in the end, respond to her key question of me in which she asks, "To what end do we engage in this struggle and with what key issues in mind?" Implied throughout my rejoinder is a dual position on ethics. Ethics are trouble and ethical debates cause trouble. As I suggested in my article, well-meaning, caring scholars struggle and disagree about ethical dilemmas and values, the foundational knowledge underpinning them, and how we should enact them. We must have ethical positions, but when we stake out an ethical claim, its problems immediately become evident to one's readers and listeners. Dillabough's response to my article is an example of just such a process. Ethics also need to be troubled. Their waters need to be stirred up. Their problems, risks, and inconsistencies need to be revealed, explored, and revised to create more useful and more liberatory consequences for people in schools. In my article, I attempted to trouble the ethics of critical and inclusive pedagogies. Dillabough further troubles pedagogy as well as my account of pedagogy.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of Touching Eternity: The Enduring Outcomes of Teaching by Tom Barone, New York, Teachers College Press, 2001, The Art of Writing Inquiry, edited by Lorri Neilsen, Ardra L. Cole, and J. Gary Knowles, Halifax, Backalong Books, 2001 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A review of Touching Eternity: The Enduring Outcomes of Teaching by Tom Barone, New York, Teachers College Press, 2001, The Art of Writing Inquiry, edited by Lorri Neilsen, Ardra L. Cole, and J. Gary Knowles, Halifax, Backalong Books, 2001, Writing Research/Researching Writingby Gary William Rasberry, New York, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2001, and Being, Seeking and Telling: Expressive Approaches to Qualitative Adult Education Research, edited by Peter Willis, Robert Smith, and Emily Collins, Flaxton, Queensland, Post Pressed, 2000

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a Prophetic Pedagogy: A Response to Our Critics is presented. But it does not address the problem of the need for a curriculum inquiry, and does not provide a response to critics.
Abstract: (2002). Wanted: A Prophetic Pedagogy: A Response to Our Critics. Curriculum Inquiry: Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 341-347.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use sfumato to frame the importance of prophecy and argue that it is integral to teaching, but they question reimagining's efficacy and had trouble following the authors' logic.
Abstract: Professors Bullough, Patterson, and Mayes use sfumato to frame prophecy’s importance. I agree that prophecy is important and that it is integral to teaching. I question reimagining’s efficacy, and had trouble following the authors’ logic.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The notion of teacher as prophet was introduced by Bullough, Patterson, and Mayes as mentioned in this paper, who argued that good teaching is not so much technical than it is, in some fundamental sense, mysterious and spiritual.
Abstract: Who could not wish for a generation of teachers whose practice fulfils the performance descriptors expressed by Bullough, Patterson, and Mayes in Teaching as Prophecy? The remarkable, profound, and idealistic qualities anticipated in those who feel called to teaching with the passion and vision of a prophet include, among others: being "a light in the midst of darkness;" beckoning students to "reach beyond themselves" and "to dream dreams;" imagining and then seeking "to embrace beauty and goodness even as [the teacher] seeks to represent it;" deeply nurturing, filled with humility, courage and responsibility, always aware of the dangers of both becoming a guru or a martyr; always aware of the possibilities in each of "her children"; animated by a moral fervour and a social vision, sustained always by the knowledge that the prophet has a vision of truth to stand against the darkness of our age. The writers have set the conception of teacher as prophet against the current trend in teacher evaluation and development in which there is a renewed emphasis on teaching as a skill. Making technical skills the centerpiece of teaching "does violence to the deeper motivations and calling that prompt so many people to become teachers." Good teaching, according to the writers, is not so much technical than it is, in some fundamental sense, mysterious and spiritual. Good teaching, consequently, is best envisioned as an act of prophesy or the practice of a prophet. As an image of expectations beyond the demands for technical skill in classroom practice, however, the teacher/prophet conjured by the writers seems unfairly burdensome and even intimidating for young teachers. Nor is it clear what the cause-effect relationship is between teachers believing they are called to teach and the engendering of these wonderful qualities. The one is no guarantee of the other except as teachers may come to understand the challenge and responsibility of teaching as a vocation. Nor is it clear that the spiritual and affective motivations of teaching can stand alone apart from the technical and cognitive skills of teaching. No amount of calling will automatically provide the skillful practice essential to meeting the day in and day out, moment by moment, multiple demands of a

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue for the importance of clarifying theoretical approaches and positionalities when working to "go against the grain" in a high school English class, where most of the school's faculty did not support or approve of these types of curricular strategies.
Abstract: In Going against the Grain: Supporting the Student-Centered Teacher, Aaronsohn portrays many of the difficulties faced when teachers try to “go against the grain” in institutions of public education. In this instance, “going against the grain” refers to implementing constructivist curricula in a high school English class, where most of the school’s faculty did not support or approve of these types of curricular strategies. This study documents the ways Sheila, a beginning teacher, developed her own pedagogical philosophy during her first two years of teaching and how Aaronsohn supported Sheila in that pursuit. The goal of this critique is to argue for the importance of clarifying theoretical approaches and positionalities when working to “go against the grain.” Aaronsohn does not offer a clear theoretical framework underlying the methodology and pedagogical techniques employed by Sheila. Furthermore, Aaronsohn discusses issues related to social agency and empowerment without introspection into her...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role of artistry in the work of those who undertake research in the social sciences has been explored in this article, where the authors draw on their research on women and leadership and their eight years of experience as a university administrator in considering the aesthetics of leadership practice in university settings.
Abstract: This article draws on my research on women and leadership and my eight years of experience as a university administrator in considering the aesthetics of leadership practice in university settings. I use the form of a story of one of my days to respond to Eisner and Powell’s article on the role artistry might play in the work of those who undertake research in the social sciences. When we view art as a particular quality possessed by human experience, as Dewey does in Art as Experience (1934/1980), we can elicit important insights from a wide array of concrete activities and not just from acknowledged great works of art. Using aesthetic forms, perceptions, and interpretations allows us to “recover the continuity of esthetic experience within normal processes of living [and working]” (p. 10)—even within what many consider the ordinary activities involved in enacting the role of university administrator. Even there intrinsic music can be found.