Off the beaten track: a reflection on intention and unpredictability in arts education research

Abstract

The coherence of a ‘research program’ is often betrayed by the unanticipated turns and detours in arts research. The following article reflects upon the place of the unexpected in arts research, the alternative ways in which knowledge or ‘findings’ are often constructed, and the complexity of calibrating or measuring arts research for broader publics. UNESCO’s road map is seen here as a site for further deliberation, a point in time and space that should engage arts communities in rousing dialogue—locally and globally—about the convergences and divergences of our practices and research paradigms.