Arts/Humanities researchers frequently do not explain methodology overtly; instead, they "perform" it through their use of language, textual and historic cross-reference, and theory. Here, methodologies from literary studies are shown to add to Higher Education (HE) an exegetical and critically pluralist approach. This includes exploiting the connotative complexity of language. I appropriate Martin's term "magpieism" for her methodology in medieval literature studies in accordance with magpie tendencies to carry off and make use of whatever seems promising. This paper describes Martin's magpie approach to theory and methodology: a honing in on what seems important, then using a range of approaches and theories as they seem helpful. Examples demonstrate how methodology can be shown in prose and structure. Critical pluralism is shown to be epistemologically useful for HE methodology when one regards education itself as a "text" of social practice available for exegetical reading. This is something of a manifesto pushing back at science methodology's grip on education. Education, however, has responsibilities to maintaining ethical and aesthetic values negotiated through interrogation from different perspectives. The article points out that Arts/Humanities methodology--which can be implicit--can make significant contribution in HE, complementing science methods and enriching our understanding.