Our Purpose
The Arts-Based Educational Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) provides a community for those who view education through artistic lenses, who use a variety of arts-based methodologies, and who communicate understandings through diverse genres. ABER sponsors paper sessions, panel presentations, symposiums, workshops, and performative presentations at the annual AERA meeting. ABER disseminates information about research initiatives, publications, conferences and other ABER related work through our list-serve and website. ABER maintains close relationships with other special interest groups facilitating dialogue among artists, researchers, and teachers, to further understandings about the complexities and aesthetics of teaching and learning.
ABER Executive Statement
With a global pandemic, this year has been particularly challenging for many of us, in ways that were unexpected and unprecedented. While the world focuses on the effects of the pandemic, folx in Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities have not had the privilege of focusing only on the pandemic’s disproportionately devastating effects. Instead, they are facing heightened racialized trauma and other intersected forms of oppression. They also are leading social movements and actions to abolish white supremacist systems, practices, and institutions. It would be irresponsible of us to carry on business as usual or to offer a statement of solidarity that is performative in nature without any tangible actions of support and solidarity. Thus, in our last ABER Executive meeting, we had a deep, long discussion and recognized that while ABER has always maintained a friendly stance to expansiveness, generativity, and work arising from multiple locations, we have not fully centered ways that encourage more representation, inclusion, and participation of BIPOC communities in ABER. Consequently, many members of these communities have sought other homes within AERA, without considering ABER a space with strong commitment to and participation in culturally-situated, anti-racist, and anti-oppressionist work. Thus, we asked ourselves, “How might we show up in this moment and the moments that follow this one, to demonstrate a steadfast commitment to support BIPOC communities and challenge anti-Blackness, racism, and all forms of intersected oppression faced by many within and outside our communities?”
ABER values the lives of BIPOC folx and recognizes their human right to a dignified life and liberation. As such, ABER commits to dismantling anti-Black, racist, white supremacist structures and practices in academia. While unintentional, our lack of consistent effort to proactively create space for our BIPOC colleagues and students and transparently voice our anti-racist stance through concrete actions made us complicit with systemic racism. We share our humble apologies and offer an updated path of possibilities that honor our steadfast commitment to abolishing anti-Blackness, systemic racism, intersected forms of oppression, and white supremacy in all ways possible, as we can, from our positions of influence.
ABER values the lives of BIPOC folx and recognizes their human right to a dignified life and liberation. As such, ABER commits to dismantling anti-Black, racist, white supremacist structures and practices in academia. While unintentional, our lack of consistent effort to proactively create space for our BIPOC colleagues and students and transparently voice our anti-racist stance through concrete actions made us complicit with systemic racism. We share our humble apologies and offer an updated path of possibilities that honor our steadfast commitment to abolishing anti-Blackness, systemic racism, intersected forms of oppression, and white supremacy in all ways possible, as we can, from our positions of influence.