Phenomenological approach in education

Abstract

In this study I discuss how to apply the phenomenological approach to education. Formal learning systems try to create a community in which people have similar feelings, behaviors, and understandings, and so they mostly ignore students' individual differences. Because these differences are necessary for person to become an individual, the differences among students being subjected to formal learning should be supported by using a phenomenological approach. Phenomenology focuses on an individual's first-hand experiences rather than the abstract experience of others. It emphasizes explaining the meaning of things through an individual's perspectives and self-experiences. Phenomenology inspires self-searching, self-experiences, and new learning. It also requires a motivated inquiry into knowledge and a desire to learn about self and others. Phenomenological learning is related to the search for the meaning of self-experiences and perceptions. Students must be encouraged to describe, investigate, and explain their feelings, experiences, and thoughts. They describe their experiences, consider possible meanings, and understand the essences of their experiences in relation to the topics of learning. The student's self-experiences include feelings, thoughts, responses, and the relationship between self and others, which include other students, teachers, learning topics, and so on. If we ask students about their self-experiences, the answers will include images, intuitions, ideas, innovations, inquiries, creativities, perceptions, understanding, and perspectives. Education should focus on these by means of its curriculum implementations. The phenomenological approach should be applied in the education system as a tool for learning.