Symposium overview: In defence of the dark arts: merging theory and method to transfigure education research

Educational practice and research in Australia are beset by the shiny arts of positivism under neoliberal ideology. This symposium shares the spell book for three divergent and disruptive research creations, each alchemizing the dark arts of theory as method in educational research. Rather than designating either theory or method as primary, the presenters imagine theory and method as co-constitutive elements, calling each other into being in the context of research as it happens.   These papers reject monologic constructions and create possibilities for educational research, providing inspirational chimeras to energise studies infused with potentiality. Each paper is bold and defiant, giving voice and shape to strategies for defence against the sharp arts of data. These approaches deny imprisonment in tick boxes and challenge normative cultures of quality, security, privacy, transparency, performance auditing, assessment and standardisation, as we step back from what Foucault calls the light of surveillance, into the murky shadows.   In the world of Harry Potter, dabbling with the dark arts leads to nasty ends. As Defence of the Dark Arts presenters, we have other plans and remain determined to seek something other than test and tick and to invigorate others in this struggle. Future students, both magic and muggle, depend upon us!