RESEARCH

Introducing hermeneutic phenomenology

Teachers’ lived experiences can strengthen the flow of new knowledge emerging around physical computing with themes for future educational research arising from this study.

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My chosen theoretical framework is not constructionism; however, “objects-to-think-with” is positioned as a phenomenological study of teachers’ lived experiences with physical computing, providing a creative approach to examine the phenomenon rather than a precise procedural method to follow (Polkinghorne, 1983). The strength of this approach with teachers and dialogical discourse is an opportunity for new meanings to emerge.

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Hermeneutic phenomenology has the potential to be a “freezer of waterfalls”. Jenner (2000) recognised the transformative nature of this methodology in research using a waterfall metaphor to describe the potential of phenomenological attitude to show us what we did not see or understand earlier.

“A man who lives by a waterfall does not ‘hear’ the fall; it is such a familiar sound that it goes unnoticed. Yet, he notices the cry of the wild geese in the sky above when they fly through the autumn night. But let’s say that the waterfall should freeze to ice overnight – then he notices the difference in an instant”  – Jenner (2000, p.38)​​​

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