@phdthesis{discovery10020475,
          school = {Institute of Education, University of London},
            note = {Thesis: (PhD) University of London Institute of Education, 2003.},
            year = {2004},
           title = {Towards understanding the experiential meanings of primary school childrens encounters with ancient Egyptian objects},
             url = {http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.406431},
          author = {Ovenden, Christine Ann.},
        abstract = {This inquiry seeks an understanding of the experiential meanings
of primary school children's encounters with ancient Egyptian
objects by using a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology. To
demonstrate how this methodology is practised, adult experiences
of an exhibition of ancient Egyptian sculpture and contemporary
art are analyzed and interpreted. A survey of ideas from theoretical
and phenomenological literature follows, focusing on the visual,
tactile and verbal dimensions of children's awareness, \{itself a
problematic term). The physical and social aspects of the teaching
and researching context are then investigated, to discover how
they impinge upon the children's experience as a whole. To
consider the philosophical ideas which underpin hermeneutic
phenomenology along with their application to educational
research, the ideas of Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Gadamer, van
Manen, Bolinow and Vandenberg are discussed; with particular
reference to bracketing prejudices; collecting and analyzing
observational and interview data; and interpreting the children's
experience through writing and rewriting. A narrative
description which aims to recreate the immediacy and complexity
of the experience is then included, using composite verbal
statements from the children's letters and interviews, as well as
insights from my own teaching experience. The four
phenomenological existentials of lived-space, lived-body, livedtime
and lived-human relations are then utilized to create a
structure for interpreting the common themes of this experience.
These comprise the fear of disorientation, entrapment, death, 'real'
objects, being under surveillance, and experiencing alternate
feelings of fear and excitement; wonder, stunned amazement and
curiosity; being imaginatively transported to an ancient time; and
empathic/empathetic feelings of being 'in touch' with the ancient
Egyptians. Findings suggest that children's embodied responses
which emanate from their visual and tactile experiences, can
inform not only a deeper understanding of how their feelings,
imagination and memories interact, but also how this interaction
has relevance for primary pedagogy, primary history and museum
education.}
}