Rethinking arts-based research methods in education: enhanced participant engagement processes to increase research credibility and knowledge translation

Arts-based research is a participatory research practice that is well established in the qualitative field. However, while arts-based research has been defined as the creation of art to generate, interpret or communicate research knowledge, there is exiguous literature on the creation of art to establish trustworthiness in qualitative inquiry. This pilot case study specifically addresses this gap in the exploration of arts-based research practices to determine credibility and dependability. The context of the research was the impact of a Digital Sabbath practice on early career teachers, as teachers within their first five years of teaching are among the most vulnerable in the teaching profession. A Digital Sabbath is the practice of unplugging from all technology for one day per week, with the aim of increasing social connectedness and mitigating stress and burnout by decreasing our overuse of technology. The integration of arts-based research within this case study resulted in more active participation of the early career teachers throughout the research process. Consequently, participants’ voices resonated more strongly in the research output, as the iterative and participatory nature of the arts-based design supported a longitudinal dialogue between researcher and participant.