Although art educational research has expanded in its quality and quantity, it is lack in reflective thoughts about how we claim to know what we think we know. In order to explain the importance of methodological positions in research, this study examines how the qualitative approach can help uncover the underneath meanings related to various issues in art education. This paper explores the conceptual backgrounds of qualitative research methods in association with the interpretive approach and the phenomenological approach. The rationale for using qualitative methods in art educational research is discussed in two aspects. First, through qualitative research methods the researcher can seek the way to bridge the cleavage between practice and theory, which often leads to complex problems in art education. Second, in qualitative research methodology the teacher is viewed not as a practitioner of art or the transmitter of fixed knowledge but as researcher. The purpose of this article is to initiate the awareness and discourse about methodological issues in art educational research and to expand the methodological framework for investigating our vivid experiences and circumstances in natural forms.