In the spirit of the IPJP’s aim to encourage research in the social sciences within a phenomenological paradigm, the journal has launched a series of special editions, each focussing on particular aspects or categories of phenomenological research and theory in the broadest possible sense.

Theme: Method in Phenomenology

The journal released a special issue devoted to method in phenomenology as distinct from research per se within a phenomenological paradigm. As such, the papers in this Special Edition focussed on substantive foundational issues pertaining to the notion of method within the broad ambit of the phenomenological paradigm.

The Special Edition dealing with method in the field of phenomenology was released in August 2006 under the Guest Editorship of This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Theme: Phenomenology in Education

The thought-provoking editorial of the 2002 (September) issue of the IPJP asks for a broadened understanding and acceptance of varied phenomenological orientations to research. Robert Schweitzer draws attention to research inspired by the Duquesne school of phenomenological research, which some believe to be at odds with the rationale and purpose of Husserlian phenomenology.

Over the past 30 years, scholars associated with this School (particularly Amedeo Giorgi) have established a tradition of empirical phenomenological research where the focus is on the lived-experience of research participants rather than on how the phenomenon presents itself to the researcher. This approach has found fertile ground in the field of education, perhaps for obvious reasons. Education (and all its associated activities and processes, such as learning, teaching, leading and managing) remains a phenomenon which defies definition and is profoundly about being human. In this regard, the editors are aware of studies in areas such as education leadership (particularly of female leadership), students’ experience of learning (particularly of second or foreign languages), students’ acquisition of academic discourse (again, particularly of non-mother tongue learners), and values in leadership.

The Special Edition dealing with phenomenology and education was released in February 2008 under the Guest Editorship of This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Theme: The Teaching of Phenomenology

To improve the depth as well as the reach of both scholarship and research from within the phenomenological perspective requires that we attend not only to the question of what readings could or should be recommended to a relative neophyte as well as an advanced postgraduate student, but also the question of how phenomenology is taught in different disciplines and at different levels.

In the conclusion of a 1973 chapter on phenomenological psychology, Misiak and Sexton wrote that for phenomenological psychology to remain a viable movement and an enriching influence it would have to:

• accept some common conceptual core or proclaim some phenomenological creed which would identify and unify the dispersed phenomenological family;
• develop and constantly improve phenomenological methodology;
• be ever cognizant of scientific advances in all psychological fields;
• maintain a continuous dialogue with other psychological movements; and
• remain in close touch with phenomenological philosophy.

Whatever the merit and status of this assessment, we are now, almost 40 years later, in a vastly changed world with a constantly changing higher education landscape and therefore in a different position to re-assess the “what” and “how” of teaching phenomenology in various disciplines.

Using the discipline of psychology as a case study, for example, what might we learn if we ask questions about “what” phenomenology is taught and “how” it is taught with respect to themes such as:

• different styles and levels of difficulty in the teaching of phenomenology;
• exposition of basic phenomenological ideas;
• application and exercising of methodological principles;
• treatment of important figures in the history of the phenomenological movement;
• bibliographical information;
• new developments within this approach;
• discussion of the relationships of phenomenology to other traditions and, finally,
• the relationship of phenomenology to disciplines other than philosophy?

While it is not possible to attend to all of these issues in a single edition of the IPJP, the above agenda could serve as a guiding map for contributions to this proposed Special Edition.

This specialist edition is scheduled for release in 2012 under the Guest Editorship of This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Theme: Early Childhood Education and Phenomenology

Early childhood education teachers and learners tend often to hold onto the experiences and meanings that arise from these early years, and all that happens at all age-levels and in the broad contexts that we call schools (for young children). Teachers, parents and guardians, and young children are thus ideal research participants where lived-experience is a primary focus of the research. Seminal in this area of interpretative phenomenology is the foundational work of Dr Max van Manen.

This special edition is schedueld for release in 2012, under the Guest Editorship of This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Theme: Evidence-Based Pedagogical Approaches and Practises in Phenomenology

This special edition will focus on the ways in which phenomenological inquiry can facilitate embodied relational understanding within a pedagogical context. The term 'embodied relational understanding' has been used to refer to ways of knowing that have often been neglected in traditional educational contexts. These involve ways of knowing that are inclusive of the 'head, hand and heart', and do not excessively separate knowing from practical contexts that include the aesthetic, empathic, embodied and relational dimensions of understanding. The challenge to phenomenology has to do with the contribution it can make towards facilitating a range of pedagogical strategies that may empower this more inclusive form of knowing. For example, we can ask: How can narrative, poetry, mythology, film and literature be drawn upon in phenomenologically sensitive and rigorous ways in order to facilitate lived understandings in others (our students, our clients, our professional colleagues)? What pedagogical approaches can guide practice in education, psychotherapy, health and social care, media studies, ecology, cultural studies, archaeology and other disciplines which benefit from understandings of 'what it is like'?  How can we teach and communicate existential issues in ways that facilitate 'touched understandings'? This edition which is scheduled for release in 2012/13 - co-edited by Professors This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Sally Borbasi - will provide an opportunity to bring together contributions that approach these concerns from a number of different perspectives.

Theme: The Phenomenology of Sport Participation

This special edition will explore the phenomenological study of men and women’s experience of sport participation with the aim of shedding light on the lived experience of competition that could easily be overlooked by other approaches to research. The sport performer is regarded as an expert in his or her field, and can add much knowledge and value to the further understanding of the psychology of sport participation.

As an increasing number of individual athletes and teams approach sport psychologists to assist them in dealing with the psychological pressures of performance, knowledge about athletes’ experience of the competitive environment becomes important. Studies that place an emphasis on the psychological experience of an athlete just before, during and after competition, and how it unfolds throughout the competition can be invaluable in this regard.

If you are studying sport participation from a phenomenological perspective and would like to contribute to a special edition on the phenomenology of sport participation, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to submit an article. The usual peer-review process will pertain.

Theme: The Phenomenology of Positive Psychology

The field of positive psychology, with its focus on psychological strengths, optimal functioning and human flourishing, has burgeoned in the past decade. This Special Edition will focus on qualitative research that explores facets of positive psychological functioning. Whilst quantitative studies have provided significant clarification of constructs such as psychological well-being, and confirmed the importance of positive emotions and positive interventions, there is still the need for a more in-depth understanding of positive psychology.

We are interested in publishing research exploring the lived experience of individuals that is related to all facets of positive functioning, including, but not limited to, positive traits, positive relationships, and positive psychological interventions.

Readers are invited to submit manuscripts related to these themes to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Manuscripts will be subjected to the usual peer-review process. Release is scheduled for 2013/14.

Theme: The Phenomenology of Hypnosis

Hypnosis has been applied in various ways and contexts to promote physical and psychological healing. Its application goes as far back as the healing practices in ancient cultures, where rituals were implemented to treat disorders. In the early 20th century, hypnosis became a field of serious scientific inquiry, leading to the development of various theories of, and approaches in, hypnotherapy.

In this Special Edition we are inviting research on how hypnosis is experienced by both therapist and client. For example, we are interested in the ‘subjective’ experience of facilitating hypnotherapy (as therapist) as well as being in hypnosis and receiving hypnotherapy (as client). Further questions, for instance, might include: “What is the lived experience of being trained in hypnotherapy?” and “How are specific approaches to hypnotherapy experienced by clients?”

Readers are invited to submit manuscripts written in the broad qualitative tradition to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The usual peer-review process applies.

Theme: The Life-World in Educational Empirical Research

The aim of this special issue is to discuss the use of the phenomenological notion of the life-world in educational empirical research. This notion was originally developed within philosophy to answer philosophical questions. If it is going to be used in empirical research, it is necessary to discuss how it can be used in this new and different context. The special issue wants to address this challenge in two ways: by theoretical discussion and by showing how the life-world can be used in research practice. The special issue will include contributions from the Gothenburg tradition.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will serve as Guest Editor of this special issue. The usual peer review process will apply.