• The Mathematical Education
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.539-557
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• 2022

A research field develops by experiencing several turns of paradigms. Mathematics education research have experienced those turns as well. Still, the dominant perspective is that mathematics education research should be scientific and objective. In this article, I suggest that this need not to be the prime rule to follow and that the mathematics education field will fertile by discussing extraordinary cases which may seem controversal to be recognized as valid research work. To this end, I first briefly describe the necessity of open discussions among researchers for a field to develop. Then, I introduce fiction writing, a resesarch method derived from arts-based research, as an extraordinary case for open discussions. The benefit of Arts-based research is on that it takes an holistic approach to how we know by embracing emotion and emphathy as means for knowing. Because of this trait, arts-based research holds a powerful potential for influencing a wide range of people, both inside and outside of the resesarch field. Following this, I present a fiction about a prospective teacher who participated in an activity for designing educative curriculum materials. By doing so, I sought to provoke discussions among mathematics education researchers about what to include as a valid research work, possible standards for reviewing arts-based resesarch.