Operationalizing a Phenomenological Approach in Educational Research: A Descriptive Polyphonic Narration
The objective of this article is to present and discuss elements of the methods deployed as part of research into the role of the history of mathematics in initial training for teaching at the high school level. The goal of the study was to describe the lived experience of six future math teachers engaged in reading historical texts. The need to report on part of the participants’ intimate and personal experience encouraged us to choose a phenomenological approach. First, we try to explain and situate our understanding of the phenomenological approach to the humanities. Then we describe the ensuing methodological development that allowed us to approach our research objectives, in particular the invention of a methodological tool: polyphonic narration.