Social constructivist theorists tend to identify qualitative educational research as discovering meaning and understanding by the researcher's active involvement in the construction of meaning. Although these approaches have been widely influenced by Vygotsky's social constructivist approach, his own theoretical framework has received little attention in creating collaborative and dialectical relationship between the researcher and the research participants. The purpose of this article is to revisit Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of learning to reconsider ways how to conduct qualitative research through an emphasis on interactive and creative elements. The methodology applied in this narrative review article is based on qualitative, theoretical research. This article reviews Vygotsky's social constructivist approach, involving both primary and secondary sources. Bakhtin's (1990) aesthetic relationship and Bresler's (2006a,2006b) concept of aesthetics are also used to elaborate and extend Vygotsky's original work. From their shared concerns, two aspects of research are considered, research as: (1) a creative and transformative activity; and (2) as an affective, cognitive and embodied activity. Hence, authentic social constructivist research must deal with the empathic and aesthetic aspects of the researcher--participant relationship. Implications of these findings for researchers are also discussed.