Phenomenology in Education
One of the hallmarks of the phenomenological approach in education is that it allows students to learn relevant information through experience. This approach provides students with a “means of approaching and engaging with complex phenomena” (Farrell, 2020, p.8) that may not be understood through ethnographic or narrative approaches.
Understanding Teacher Work
For example, one possible scenario would be to use phenomenology to develop leadership skills and better understand the teacher’s role among students. In this scenario, each student is asked to take on the role of a teacher and deliver one of the topics to the class. First, students should prepare the necessary materials and find essential information.
Second, they should compose a presentation to convey critical messages to their audience. Finally, interaction with the audience and its involvement in studying the material are implied during the speech. This practice promotes improving leadership and public speaking skills in front of an audience. In addition, due to this approach, students better understand the teacher’s job and challenges.
Learning About Student Skills
Since the phenomenological approach is based on the conclusions that a person comes to through lived experience (Webb & Welsh, 2019), it can be assumed that a certain percentage of students will be interested in further studying the topic they presented. Therefore, another opportunity this approach provides is to reveal the hidden skills of students.
In this scenario, it is best to stick to a learner-based design to consider each student’s interests and abilities. The topics can be distributed among students depending on their areas of interest. This design helps to provide opportunities for choice of activities and learning experiences that will result. Therefore, it is essential not to limit the format of speeches or give clear instructions on what information should be presented. Thereby, extracting the maximum benefit from applying the phenomenological approach will be possible.
References
Farrell, E. (2020). Researching lived experience in education: Misunderstood or missed opportunity? International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 1-8.
Webb, A. S., & Welsh, A. J. (2019). Phenomenology as a methodology for scholarship of teaching and learning research. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 7(1), 168-181.