What we are interested in exploring in this special issue is this: How is the next generation of scholars being prepared to be Critical Qualitative Researchers? Specifically, we want to invite authors to share with the community the pedagogical practices they use to teach critical qualitative research in their qualitative research courses.
By raising this question, we extend existing works that explore pedagogies of critical qualitative research, for example, examining the role of specific research content in teaching research methodologies (Pope & Kuntz, 2024), the role of art-making in methodology courses (Bhattacharya, 2020; Lahman & De Oliveira, 2021), the role of writing in qualitative inquiry (Carlson et al., 2023); preparing novice researchers for the messiness of research (Ricky & Cook, 2017), for adopting the lifestyle of a researcher (Preissle & deMarrais, 2015), for the conceptual tensions in engaging with these methods as emerging scholars (Brown, 2024b), and how critical pedagogies themselves might fashion critical methodologies (Basu, 2021). We thus aim to delve deeper into the teaching and animating of critical qualitative research beyond the epistemological groundwork that is laid in myriad introductory methodology texts (e.g. Bhattacharya, 2017; Ravitch & Carl, 2016; Swaminathan & Mulvihill, 2018). The teaching of qualitative research methods has led to paradigmatic shifts (Wagner et al., 2019), and we believe the teaching of critical qualitative research holds even more potential in this respect. We are interested in how members of the community teach specific critical theoretical perspectives, how they teach about the history of qualitative research, how they challenge or contest fundamental aspects of research methodologies and the like. This in turn calls for a growing body of critical qualitative researchers with a grounding in critical inquiry and a vision towards transformative practice. To meet this urgency, we invite a collaborative exploration of pedagogical mediations in research spaces through diverse modalities of writing, and pose the following questions as possible lines of inquiry:
- How can we rethink the teaching of research methods in the methodology departments of research universities?
- How do established critical qualitative researchers introduce these research methods to those who are unfamiliar with them? How are these methods animated in the pedagogical spaces?
- What are the pedagogical challenges and constraints that one grapples with in teaching critical qualitative inquiry?
- How are the necessary onto-epistemological shifts and methodological disruptions brought about pedagogically?
- How do critical qualitative researchers integrate perspectives of power in their teaching?
- What might be some creative openings to understanding critical qualitative research?
- What might be the diverse strands within critical qualitative research drawing from non-Western, marginalized, and indigenous worldviews and how can novice researchers engage with the plurality of methodologies?
- How can we teach new scholars in critical qualitative research to address the present moment with its complexities from the standpoint of praxis?
The special issue invites critical qualitative researchers to share their practices and pedagogical insights, think with and beyond these questions, and in doing so, help open the field to emerging researchers and those looking to deepen their practice.
Tentative Timeline:
Abstracts (300-500 words, not including references): September 15, 2024
Invitations for Full Articles: October 1, 2024
Article Submissions: January 15, 2025
Peer Review of Submissions: February 01 – March 30, 2025
Revisions: April-June 2025
Final Submissions Due: June 30, 2025
Entire Issue Submitted to Journal: August 15, 2025
Download the full call:
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