Using Phenomenology to Forge a New Path in Classroom Research

• In Event: 34.040 - Reenvisioning the Potentials of Qualitative Research Approaches

Abstract

Phenomenology presents philosophical and practical challenges for the researcher. First, phenomenological traditions concerning hermeneutics, ethics, embodiment, and gender, among others, tend to imply different sets of methods, some clearly defined and others vague. Second, researcher reflexivity, an important practice for all qualitative research, tends to fit awkwardly with some traditions of phenomenology that emphasize transcendence via the epoche and subsequent reductions. Third, phenomenological inquiry tends to produce expansive descriptions of lived experience that are not amenable to the typical word limits of education journals. In this paper, these challenges are taken up in the context of a study on middle and secondary English language arts teachers’ lived experiences with dialogic teaching.

Author

• Mark A. Sulzer, University of Cincinnati