Using Phenomenology to Conduct Environmental Education Research: Experience and Issues

Overview & Synopsis

Recently, I applied a phenomenological methodology to study environmental education at an outdoor education center. In this article, I reflect on my experience of doing phenomenological research to highlight issues researchers may want to consider in using this type of methodology. The main premise of the article is that phenomenology, with its different philosophical base, can provide new perspectives on questions asked by environmental education researchers. However, using it requires researchers to take on significantly different philosophical stances from those of other more commonly used research methodologies. This may be challenging for some in practice.