Phenomenography as a research method and its cognitive consequences in the light of one research project on adult learning experiences. Researcher’s reflection

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to reconstruct the basic features of phenomenography as the methodological approach and method of gathering data in educational research. Referring to publications of Ferec Marton, the main creator of this method, the author tries to name basic issues important for researchers who want to undertake phenomenography in their projects. What is more she unveils her experiences connected with her own research on adult learning conducted in the phenomenography perspective. In her opinion, there are very important cognitive consequences of applying this method in projects which create its potential at the same time. The first one is that phenomenography does not divide the world of our experiences into black and white; it feeds the shadows and allows to define the world through the prism of different colours of one phenomenon. The second feature is showing that the distinction of experiences is rooted in the world of culture in which we exist. The third is that thanks to this method a researcher does not only reconstruct social practices but they can show that a society needs these practices and cannot even imagine that their everyday life could be changed.