Thinking with Trickster: sporadic illuminations for educational research

Abstract

Moments of restriction or impasse – situations that are seemingly intransigent, offering no alternatives or poor alternatives, predicaments leading to less than satisfactory resolutions or unhappy compromises – abound in the practice of educational research. This paper speculates on the possibilities offered by thinking with ‘Trickster’ – a shadowy, unconventional figure of myth and folklore – in such moments of impasse, and asks if this source of inspiration may allow for flashes of illumination and thus, room for newness to enter the world. Drawing on some ‘difficult’ moments from two rather different research projects, the paper reflects on what thinking with Trickster might have to offer to the praxis of educational research, especially in terms of methodology and ethics.

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