| Content only version |
Centre for Qualitative Research : Masterclasses 2008
"Doing" Phenomenology and the Demands of Writing
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
Dr. Max van Manen, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. 15th & 16th May 2008 |
In descriptive and interpretive studies there seems always a methodology at work that remains relatively hidden, unaddressed, and in the background. This is the practice of writing itself. Human science scholars are not only researchers but also authors for whom the practice of writing constitutes a special dimension of their work. The more “qualitative” the method (in a phenomenological sense) the more demanding is the writing. Indeed, it is in the act of reading-writing that phenomenological insights are gained.
This master class will introduce participants to the challenges and demands of phenomenological writing. It will consider the descriptive, interpretive, vocative, addressive, poetic, and ethical dimensions of reflective writing. Phenomenology as a practice of writing is especially relevant to persons interested in the study of lived meaning in the domains of professional practices such as education, psychology, counselling, the health sciences, and related academic and professional fields.
Process:
First, in this master class workshop we will make a variety of distinctions that concern phenomenological methodology: empirical and reflective human science methods; epistemological and ontological methods; the phenomenological reduction and the more elusive notion of the vocative. These distinctions will be briefly indicated and related to the idea of lived or prereflective experience as the primal source and focus for phenomenological inquiry. The main emphasis of the workshop will be on the vocative that is central to the challenge of phenomenological writing.
Second, it will be shown how, the eidetic reduction brackets phenomenological meaning, and the vocative evokes phenomenological meaning. The evocation of phenomenological meaning will be related to the iconicity of poetic discourse, the semiotic notion of punctum, the significance of the notion of example, and the manner in which meaning is incarnated in texts.
Third, the narrative dimensions of the vocative method will be further explored through the idea of direct description and the figure of anecdote.
Fourth, phenomenological interviewing will be contrasted with other forms of interview for the purpose of providing rich data. These narrative data are treated as sources and exemplary material for the reduction and the vocative in phenomenological inquiry and writing.
Van Manen, M. (1997). Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. London, Ont: The Althouse Press & New York: SUNY Press.
Van Manen, M. (2003). Writing in the Dark. Phenomenological Studies in Interpretive Inquiry. London, Ont: The Althouse Press.
Max van Manen regularly speaks and conducts workshops on phenomenological human science research methods, pedagogy, and related topics of the phenomenology of professional practice. For the past 30 years, he has written on pedagogy and phenomenological methodology. His research interests include the pedagogy of secrets in children's lives, the phenomenology of the body in illness and health, the pedagogical task of teaching, the meaning and pedagogical significance of spheres of recognition, pedagogical tactfulness, the primacy of the pedagogical relation, the epistemology of professional practice, the phenomenology of writing, and the experience of intimacy and interiority through writing (online). And Max van Manen has developed inquiry approaches for phenomenological research and writing. He has also translated phenomenological studies from Dutch and German languages into English.
Currently, Max van Manen teaches courses in qualitative research methods and pedagogy in the Faculty of Education, the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He has been visiting professor and taught at several universities in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and China.
Max van Manen maintains the website Phenomenology Online 
and International Research Center of Phenomenology and Pedagogy (IRCPP) .
He has initiated and coordinated CPIn (the
Curriculum and Pedagogy Institute ). He also helped establish the collaborative
International Research Center for Phenomenological Pedagogy and Teacher Education
at the CNIER (the China National Institute for Educational Research), Beijing.
Max van Manen's books include "Researching Lived Experience;" "The
Tact of Teaching;" "Childhood's Secrets: Intimacy, Privacy, and the
Self Reconsidered" (with Bas Levering); "The Tone of Teaching;"
and "Writing in the Dark: Phenomenological Studies in Interpretive Inquiry."
His publications have been translated into many languages. Visit his Homepage Here
Awards include the Canadian Society for Studies in Education, (CACS) Life Time Achievement Award; the McCalla Award; the American Education Research Association (Curriculum) Life Time Achievement Award; the Killam Annual Professorship; and the University of Alberta J. Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research.
Masterclass Schedule
| Schedule | Time |
|---|---|
| Registration | 9.00 |
| First Session Begins | 9.30 |
| Lunch | 12.30 |
| Second Session Begins | 13.30 |
| Day Ends | 16.30 |
Costs and Booking Information
The fee of £99.00 for this Masterclass includes two full days with the course facilitator, all refreshments and all class materials. Cheques should be made payable to Bournemouth University. Invoices can only be issued on receipt of a purchase order number. Please view the Centre for Qualitative Research Masterclasss 2008 Booking Form (PDF 45kb) for more information. Cancellations received up to six weeks before each masterclass will be refunded less an administration charge of 25%. No refunds can be processed after six weeks have elapsed. Places are limited and operate on a "first come, first served" basis.
Please forward all enquiries to:
| Centre for Qualitative Research | |
Enquiries and Registration |
Email: cqr@bournemouth.ac.uk Web: http://www.qualitative-research.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1202 962763 Fax: +44 (0) 1202 962194 |
About the University / Courses / Academic Centres / Research / Academic Support / Facilities and Resources / Business Services
Community Engagement / News and Events / Future Students / International Students / Student Portal / Staff / Alumni / Careers Advisers and Teachers