Sampling Poetry, Pedagogy, and Protest to Build Methodology: Critical Poetic Inquiry as Culturally Relevant Method

Abstract

This article argues for a culturally relevant methodology that can aid minoritized and justice-oriented qualitative researchers in amplifying and sustaining the cultural epistemologies and counter-stories of minoritized research participants. The author uses the hip hop aesthetic of sampling as a structural metaphor to assemble the elements of a culturally relevant methodology capable of protest by sampling from the arts-based method of poetic inquiry, culturally relevant pedagogy, and critical race theory. This article explains criteria for a culturally relevant methodology of critical poetic inquiry and provides examples of research poetry that meet the criteria.

A Corruption Course through a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: The Need for an Assessment That Fits

“…The answer to this research question is mixed. On one side, it is in itself noteworthy that the findings of this study and an earlier one devoted to the teaching of history [3] along with pertinent CRP methodological literature [41] became a source of discussion among faculty at different academic institutions, most of whom want to be more effective in instructing students whose socio-cultural background is diverse and/or different from theirs. On the other side, it is unclear whether faculty's interest and commitment to CRP will indeed deepen following informal discussions, thereby translating a vocal commitment into an operational mandate.…”

Providing an Authentic Voice? Understanding Migrant Homelessness through Critical Poetic Inquiry

“…Employing different literary forms in critical poetic analysis and re-presentation of data posed an interesting question concerning authenticity: is constrained poetry a 'culturally relevant methodology' (Davis 2019) when the words of participants are so heavily edited in re-presentation? In the strictest sense of the word, the series of tankas included in this article are wholly inauthentic; the data poem is a composite piece of several voices (each presenting their own unique tapestry of experience), which is then deconstructed and reconstituted in a new voice (the researcher's) using a different set of vocabulary.…”

Poetry and prose as methodology: A synergy of knowing

“…Thus, I began the creative process of writing each poem: collecting and selecting words and phrases from the sea of prose, moving and joining, shifting and separating, paying close attention to alliterative and figurative language. Writing research poems requires, as Davis (2021) noted, "several re-readings and revisions of arranging quotes and phrases" (p. 116). I read each version of the poem aloud to listen for and hone its rhythm and sound.…”

“…Next, I mined representative book quotes in search of words and phrases that communicated and illustrated the key thematic patterns in the analysis, which I then copied into a Microsoft Word document. In a process that was “creative and intuitive not prescriptive” (Davis, 2021: 116), I located each direct quote in the original book and then read widely around the quote, seeking additional words and phrases that might complement those identified as data.…”

“…As two researchers, one committed to academic prose and one committed to academic poetry, we seek to challenge that lingering sacrosanctity. We seek to legitimize “poetic inquiry as a culturally relevant methodology” (Davis, 2021: 114). In our current work, we employ the innovative practice of representing our findings in both prose and poetry as an act of exploration and resistance.…”