Exploring Phenomenology of Practice
An invitation to inquiry, reflection, and conversation
Phenomenology begins with a deceptively simple invitation: to attend more closely to the world as we live it. Yet learning to do this is neither simple nor straightforward. It asks us to question familiar understandings, to linger with experiences we might otherwise pass over, and to find language for meanings that are often difficult to express.
The Phenomenology of Practice Project grew from many years of teaching, researching, writing, and working alongside students who are learning to approach lived experience phenomenologically. It is intended as a place for continuing inquiry, where philosophical ideas meet the concrete experiences of everyday life and where the practice of phenomenological writing can be explored and cultivated.
About Patrick Howard
My interest in phenomenology is closely connected to a lifetime of teaching and to the questions that arise when we attend carefully to the experiences of those with whom we teach and learn.
I began my teaching career in Newfoundland and Labrador, where I spent many years working in schools and communities along the North Atlantic coast. Those experiences profoundly shaped my understanding of education, particularly the relationships among people, place, and the more-than-human world.
My subsequent doctoral studies at the University of Alberta brought me into sustained engagement with phenomenology through the teaching and mentorship of Max van Manen. His work on phenomenology of practice, pedagogical tact, and the significance of lived experience continues to inform my own teaching, research, and writing.
Over the years, I have taught and supervised graduate students undertaking phenomenological research, and I continue to work with doctoral students learning to develop phenomenological questions and write reflectively about lived experience. I also serve as Associate Editor of Phenomenology & Practice, an international scholarly journal devoted to phenomenological inquiry.
The Phenomenology of Practice Project grows from these experiences and from a continuing conviction that phenomenology is something we learn not simply by studying its ideas, but by engaging in its practice.
Reflections and Resources
Phenomenological inquiry does not end with a course, a research project, or a finished piece of writing. It invites a continuing attentiveness to the world and a willingness to return to questions that remain open.
Through my Phenomenology of Practice Substack, I share reflections on philosophical ideas, lived experience, research, and the challenges of learning to write phenomenologically. These writings are intended for students, researchers, educators, and others who are curious about what phenomenology might disclose about the world we inhabit.
Readers are welcome to follow these reflections, explore earlier essays, and join the ongoing conversation.