1006 - Arts-Based Evaluation 101: Methodological Foundations

Abstract Information: Evaluators need better tools that honour diverse and emerging perspectives. Mainstream Western data collection techniques - like surveys and recycled interview questions - often fail to adequately engage and represent diverse ways of knowing and being. Our insights, experiences, and ways of expressing ourselves rarely fit into tidy boxes, discrete categories, and linear thinking structures. And, with low participation rates and research fatigue, no one wants to do another survey! Arts-based methods offer evaluators unique opportunities to elicit feedback in ways that are stimulating, joyful, and meaningful. But, arts-based evaluation comes with its own ethical dilemmas, skills, and considerations - requiring evaluators to have a solid theoretical and practical foundation. This fun and timely workshop offers a comprehensive introduction into using arts-based methods for data collection, evaluation planning, and reflective practice with a deep-dive into poetry as one illustrative example. Participants will develop a solid methodological foundation for arts-based evaluation with an engaging blend of theory (short dynamic lectures), practice (applied case studies and activities), and interpersonal experiences (small group and partner exercises). And, content on “imaginative interviewing” will help evaluators understand how to use art and art-making to answer evaluation questions. Original content is designed to bolster evaluator competencies by exploring what arts-based methods are (and are not), how and with whom they work (and don’t), ethical considerations (consent, ownership, risks), spicy debates and conundrums, real-world examples of successful projects and epic mistakes, and tips for beginning an arts-based evaluation practice. No artistic skill or experience with arts-based methods is needed.

Relevance Statement: Acting on the growing demand for - and use of - creative evaluation methods, this session bolsters the practical and theoretical knowledge of arts-based methods for evaluators looking to add creative tools to their evaluation toolboxes. This workshop introduces evaluators to practical solutions to growing methodological challenges in the evaluation field: lack of survey participation, meeting exhaustion, Zoom fatigue, extractive/harmful data collection techniques, and a lack of reflexivity. By diving deeper into concepts, ethical considerations, and practical strategies for eliciting data, evaluators will benefit from the opportunity to learn about and practice techniques that embrace diverse ways of knowing and expressing oneself. And, participants will learn how to critically reflect on the growing field of arts-based evaluation to ensure that their application of techniques are appropriate, relevant, safe, and wanted across the diverse contexts in which they work. This workshop contributes fresh perspectives on emerging evaluation practices and methodologies with special attention paid to ethics, integrity, reflexive practice, and context-specific solutions. To support learners of any level of career stage, the session includes tips for practice, real-world examples, time to practice, handouts, and plenty of opportunities for rich discussion among peers. This workshop elevates the conference theme of amplifying and empowering voices by offering evaluators tools for collecting data that better engage diverse perspectives - especially those who have been over-researched, excluded, or harmed by extractive evaluation practices. And, by meaningfully incorporating creative tools into their evaluation toolboxes, evaluators can better elevate the joy, desire, and diverse forms of self-expression of potential clients, collaborators, and community partners. In doing so, evaluators can combat the harmful trends in evaluation that create barriers for new/emerging perspectives, such as deficit-framing, tokenism, and positivist/elitist hierarchies of knowledge. As arts-based methods are growing in popularity in evaluation, this session contributes important insights to continue bolstering emerging practices and supports evaluator competencies (1.1, 1.3, 2.4, 2.10, 2.12, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.7)