Vox Poetica: bringing an arts-based research method to school leaders’ lockdown experiences

Thomson, Pat; Greany, Toby; Cousins, Susan; Martindale, Nick

Abstract

The work of school leaders during lockdown has been emotionally charged and emotionally draining, affecting immediate well-being and longer term career plans. In order to communicate the emotions that we were told about and which were obvious during interviews with serving head teachers, we turned to arts informed methods. We used poems made from transcripts to complement and supplement the analysis of 58 interviews and survey responses (n=1491). The paper introduces the use of transcript poetry and explains our choice of method. The poems foreground the diversity that existed among the leaders, and the different kinds of interventions that might make a difference. Our example suggests that the educational leadership, management and administration field might benefit from further experimentation with arts based methods.

Citation

Thomson, P., Greany, T., Cousins, S., & Martindale, N. (2023). Vox Poetica: bringing an arts-based research method to school leaders’ lockdown experiences. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 55(2), 215-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2022.2071849

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 20, 2022
• Online Publication Date: May 5, 2022
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: May 3, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 6, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Educational Administration and History
• Print ISSN: 0022-0620
• Electronic ISSN: 1478-7431
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 215-230
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2022.2071849
• Keywords: Sociology and Political Science; Education
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7784723
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00220620.2022.2071849