The potential of post-intentional phenomenology as a methodology for research in early childhood education

Post-intentional phenomenology is a methodological approach developed by Mark Vagle that treats meanings and experiences as multiple, shifting and context-dependent rather than fixed. Evolving from the work of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, this approach also builds on Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's post-structural view of knowledge as fluid. It asks researchers to take a ‘post-reflexive’ stance on how people, ideas, contexts and texts co-produce phenomena, as well as how their own influence shapes those phenomena. Researchers attend to seemingly minor details, such as brief comments and fleeting emotions, even when revealed by a single participant, to explore multiple meanings of phenomena that might remain unrecognised in more linear analyses. This article illustrates how post-intentional phenomenology guided my doctoral study on Chinese early childhood teachers’ professional learning. An example finding highlights tensions in teachers’ professional development. These tensions arose from misaligned values, inconsistent policies and power imbalances between teachers, leaders and professional development providers. This finding also shows how teachers responded to those tensions. I argue that post-intentional phenomenology offers a critical lens for early childhood research. It values subtle data points and fluid meanings, uncovering power dynamics and amplifying perspectives often overlooked in mainstream studies in early childhood education.