Phenomenology : where Is It and what Is in It for us?

Abstract

The new research interest in phenomenology brings with it the challenges it has faced in the past, especially phenomenology itself. This essay-styled paper is about the availability of phenomenology to education specialists. Phenomenology is approached here through a survey and then pursued as an approach to education. It does so by asking two questions: Where does phenomenology stand today and what does it bring to educators? Phenomenology as an activity is presented in an undistorted way, showing its availability, and is illustrated with examples of the thinking of important 20th century figures. The tools that phenomenology provides are

explicated. The essay includes my own experiences of phenomenology as a musician- musicologist and concludes with a brief characterisation of education as a situation rather thana body of knowledge or a technique. It suggests, finally, that the most fruitful relationship between phenomenology and education would be a tool to orient and possibly change what defines the current situation.