Seeing red: poetry and metaphor as responses to representational challenges in critical narrative research

Abstract

Research with young people who ‘do not fit the mould’ requires innovative and unconventional methods, but what are the implications of such methods for scholarly representation? This paper reports on the development of such a method with students diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and offers one view of the borderland spaces and tensions between critical theory and narrative inquiry. In particular, the paper defines the methodology that underpins the ‘critical cover narratives’ method, describes the application of this approach within a doctoral study, and identifies resultant issues of representation when combining narrative and critical approaches. The paper then details the use of a tapestry metaphor to reconcile these issues. The central premise of the paper is that differing methods produce different knowledge, which demands different forms of representation. In making this case, the paper discusses the importance of a balance between the epistemological and aesthetic within scholarly representations of narrative inquiry.

Keywords:

• arts‐based educational research
• narrative inquiry
• poetry
• attention deficit disorder

Notes

1. Extracts from this paper were presented at the UK Arts‐Based Educational Research Conference in July 2007 and the Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference in November 2007.

2. ADHD is the latest diagnostic nomenclature for a condition that has had labels such as Attention Deficit Disorder, Hyperactivity and Hyperkinesis in past decades.

3. This poem was written by the author, based on his experiences while working with and hearing the stories of young people labelled with ADHD.

4. This poem was written and edited collaboratively by the researcher and a participant.

5. This poem was written solely by the author, based on reflections on the interviews and cover narratives in the study.