The five-chapter dissertation that is common in the field of education is a product of a largely unquestioned set of assumptions about how research should be done and what it should look like. It is a product that is bolstered by a whole set of institutional procedures and requirements that have become somewhat routine in many schools of education--research courses, doctoral committees, and institutional review boards are all part of the vetting process. The five-chapter format is not a recent innovation. Its roots lie in classical rhetoric where it arose as an organizing heuristic in expository compositions, originally in speeches and persuasive discourse. Its obvious utility is borne out by the fact that some version or other of the heuristic is used as the authorized formal guide to composing dissertations in colleges of education and in social science departments nationally and internationally. However, the authors wish to question the value of the heuristic and some of its assumptions for modes of research that are becoming popular as more and more practitioners are engaging in research on their own practice (Jarvis 1999). In this paper, they take a look at practitioner-research from the perspective of Deweyan aesthetics, drawing on the work of Elliot Eisner (1998), Donald Schön (1983), and others to help us rethink ideas of confidentiality, rigor, and the role of the dissertation.