A Transcendental Phenomenological Study of Faculty Perceptions of a Humanistic Classical Education

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the descriptions of experiences for faculty members at classical education curriculum academic institutions at the PreK-12 school level. The descriptions of experiences were defined as phenomenal experiences of faculty through the subjective lens. The theory guiding this study was the humanistic learning theory of education as it focuses on self-directed and self-evaluative classwork as well as the common use of canonical works to cultivate a desire for students to learn and study great texts for their entire lives. The Central Research Question asked “How do faculty at classical education institutions describe their experiences with classical education curriculum?” A transcendental phenomenological approach was the best design to incorporate as my focus sought to understand the essence of the classical education curriculum. The sample involved 11 faculty members from various classical education schools in four southern Gulf states as well as one classical education faculty member from a state on the West Coast. Snowball sampling was utilized. I employed individual interviews, a focus group, and a questionnaire as my data collection tools. The qualitative data analysis utilized triangulation to analyze collected data in order to develop themes and formulate descriptions of the participants’ perceptions of experiences as classical education faculty members. The study findings appear to show that classical educators enjoy the academic freedom, complex texts, and whole-child development such an education dictates. The findings also display the tremendous variation between classical faculty educational background expectations, which can lead to a lack of subject area knowledge.