Like oil and water?: a discussion on combining phenomenographic and hermeneutic phenomenological research methods to explore inclusive pedagogical practice in schools

Due to the ontological distinctions that can be drawn between them, hermeneutic phenomenology and phenomenography, as approaches to researching inclusive education, may seem to be incompatible. Hermeneutic phenomenological researchers, for example, tend to be concerned with the investigation of pre-reflective lived experience, with the associated aim of academic enquiry being a ‘return to the world which precedes knowledge’ (Merleau-Ponty 1962, cited in van Manen, M., 2016. Phenomenology of practice. London: Routledge, 128). Phenomenographic research, in contrast, involves the elicitation of the variation of conceptions which are held in relation to a particular ‘object of learning’ (e.g. Marton, F., and Booth, S., 1997. Learning and awareness. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 161). Through a discussion of one particular study, which involved the construction and analysis of 42 ‘dilemma stories’ from 19 experienced teachers, this paper demonstrates how a synthesis of both phenomenography and hermeneutic phenomenology can be coherent and valuable. This paper goes on to focus on one particular ‘dilemma story’ titled ‘Should I be having this conversation about death?’ to highlight how phenomenography, in particular, can be enriched by some of the typical features of hermeneutic phenomenological enquiry. Furthermore, it will be argued that valuing synergies between hermeneutic phenomenology and phenomenography has important implications for how we might approach the development of inclusive educators.