| Title | 10. Phenomenography and collective awareness |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | The potential of phenomenography to contribute to the broader social sciences |
| Contributor | Gerlese S. Åkerlind(author) |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0431.10 |
| Landing page | https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0431/chapters/10.11647/obp.0431.10 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Gerlese S. Åkerlind; |
| Publisher | Open Book Publishers |
| Published on | 2025-02-10 |
| Long abstract | Phenomenography initially commenced as a distinctive research approach based on two primary goals: to improve our understanding of learning from the students’ perspective; and to describe humanity’s collective awareness of different phenomena in the world. To date, the majority of phenomenographic research has focused on the former, educational goal. This means that the potential of research based on the second goal, investigating collective understanding of socially significant phenomena, has been underdeveloped. This forms the focus of this final chapter in the book. I start by unpacking the ongoing interest in collective awareness throughout the history of phenomenography, with examples of where phenomenographic research has been used outside of education. To help envisage the ways in which phenomenographic research might integrate with other social science research, I also outline phenomenography’s implicit position on the socially-mediated nature of human experience, and present a number of examples of studies that have integrated phenomenographic research with social and practice theories. The chapter is forward looking, with the aim of encouraging future research into collective awareness of phenomena within specific socially, culturally and historically situated groups, using phenomenographic methods. |
| Page range | pp. 249–262 |
| Print length | 14 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
Gerlese Åkerlind, PhD, is a professor emerita at the Australian National University (ANU). She was previously Director of the Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods at the ANU, Director of the Teaching and Learning Centre at the University of Canberra, and a long-term honorary Research Associate of the Oxford Learning Institute at Oxford University. Gerlese has particular expertise in the phenomenographic research tradition, with numerous publications on phenomenographic theory and methods. In addition, her empirical research has primarily used phenomenographic methods, investigating the nature of academic practice, including university teaching, research, research supervision and academic development.