Johnny Saldaña

Johnny Saldaña is Professor Emeritus of Theatre in the Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts' School of Film, Dance, and Theatre at Arizona State University (ASU) where he taught from 1981 to 2014. He has been involved in the field of theatre education as a teacher educator, drama specialist, director, and researcher. His works have been cited in over 21,000 research studies conducted in over 135 countries. Mr. Saldaña is the author of "Drama of Color: Improvisation with Multiethnic Folklore" (Heinemann, 1995), a teacher's resource text and recipient of the 1996 Distinguished Book Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE); "Longitudinal Qualitative Research: Analyzing Change Through Time" (AltaMira Press, 2003), a research methods book and recipient of the 2004 Outstanding Book Award from the National Communication Association's Ethnography Division; "Ethnodrama: An Anthology of Reality Theatre" (AltaMira Press, 2005), an edited collection of ethnographic-based plays; "The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers" (Sage Publications, fourth edition 2021), a handbook on qualitative data analysis; "Ethnotheatre: Research from Page to Stage" (Left Coast Press, 2011), winner of the American Educational Research Association's Qualitative Research SIG's Outstanding Book Award; "Fundamentals of Qualitative Research" (Oxford University Press, 2011), an introductory textbook on the subject; as co-author, the fourth edition of the late Matthew B. Miles and A. Michael Huberman's "Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook" (Sage Publications, 2020); as co-author with Matt Omasta, a new introductory textbook, "Qualitative Research: Analyzing Life" (Sage Publications, second edition, 2022); and a volume for the World Library of Educationalists' series, "Writing Qualitatively: The Selected Works of Johnny Saldaña" (Routledge, 2018). Saldaña has published articles in such journals as Youth Theatre Journal, Stage of the Art, Teaching Theatre, Research in Drama Education, Research Studies in Music Education, Multicultural Perspectives, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, and Qualitative Inquiry. He has also published chapters on research methods for such titles as "Arts-Based Research in Education," "Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research," "Handbook of Longitudinal Research," and entries for "The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods." Saldaña's research methods in longitudinal inquiry, ethnotheatre, coding, and qualitative data analysis have been applied and cited by researchers internationally in disciplines such as K-12 and higher education, business, social sciences, technology, government, social services, communication, human development, interpersonal relationships, sport, health care, and medicine. Mr. Saldaña's workshops and keynote addresses reflect a broad range of interests including drama in the classroom, drama with multicultural materials, ethnotheatre, theatre for social change, and qualitative research methods. Saldaña has presented for such organizations as: the Arizona Artist/Teacher Institute, the New Orleans Public Schools, the Louisiana Institute for Education in the Arts, the Southeast Institute for Education in Theatre, the Tennessee Arts Academy, Northwestern University, Western Michigan University, New York University, the University of Hartford, the University of Amsterdam, the University of Alberta, the University of Victoria, the University of Leeds, Mary Immaculate College / University of Limerick; and at national conferences of: AATE, the Educational Theatre Association, Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, the International Drama in Education Research Institute, the American Educational Research Association, the National Association for Multicultural Education, Narrative Inquiry in Music Education, the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, the European Qualitative Research Conference in Health and Social Care, and the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. Saldaña is a recipient of the 1989 Creative Drama Award from AATE, the 1996, 2001, and 2010 Research Awards from AATE, the 2015 Campton Bell Lifetime Achievement Award, New York University's Swortzell Innovator Award in 2017, the Burlington Resources Foundation Faculty Achievement Award in 1991, the ASU College of the Arts Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award in 1995 and 2008, and the ASU College of the Arts Research Award in 2005. In 2000, 2008, and 2009 he was recognized as a finalist by the ASU Parents Association for Professor of the Year. Mr. Saldaña received his BFA in Drama and English Education in 1976, and MFA in Drama in 1979 from the University of Texas at Austin. Saldaña has taught at UT-Austin and Washington State University in Pullman. He was born in Austin, Texas, and currently resides in Phoenix. Professional memberships include: the International Association of Qualitative Inquiry, the American Alliance for Theatre & Education, and the American Educational Research Association.