This review of literature examines and critiques research on the relationship among subject matter, teaching, and research in the arts. Research on the relationship between content and teaching practices is examined first. The author questions theories of the teacher as artist, discovery learning, and drill-and-practice instruction as related to creative performance in students. The section on the relationship between content and research discusses the insistence that researchers become artists in order to effectively conduct investigations of teaching in the arts. The merits and limitations of ethnography, an anthropological approach to research, are discussed in the section on teaching practices and approaches to research. The section also suggests that practitioners can aid in conducting research through their expertise, their understanding of how to cope with the realities of the classroom, by providing research criteria, and by functioning as co-investigators. The relationship between research and practice is considered in terms of information dissemination. The author concludes that researchers should be engaged in diffusing specific materials and media of instruction, attempting to influence prevailing views, providing opportunities for critical reflection, and creating instances of practice. The final section considers the place of the arts in the total curriculum. In the conclusion, the author stresses the avoidance of disciplinary dogma in planning research programs and choosing among research methods. (KC)