Phenomenology emerged as a perspective in the late 19th century as a reaction against the then dominant scientific (positivist) view of philosophy and psychology. Although over one hundred years have past since this time, it is argued in this paper that there continues to be much disagreement and misunderstandings about phenomenology. This may be due in part to the fact that the term has been used so widely and loosely, and conceptualised as a philosophy, a research method and a perspective from which all qualitative research is sourced (Maykut & Morehouse 1994). This paper aims to shed some light on the topic of phenomenology and it does this by exploring it as both a philosophical orientation and a methodology used in educational research and research in other discipline areas. As a research methodology, phenomenology has not been taken up to a great extent by researchers in education and elsewhere, yet it is argued in this paper that it has much potential to make a contribution to the theory and practice of education. A key aim of the paper, then, is to provide an argument that illustrates the accessibility and attractiveness of phenomenology as a potential methodology for carrying out educational research.The paper commences by considering some of the dominant philosophical streams of phenomenology that have in turn influenced the design and development of research approaches that have emerged in the last four decades. Here some of the key ideas of important phenomenological philosophers such as Husserl (1970/1954), Merleau-Ponty (1962) and Heidegger (1962) are reviewed. The paper then considers two prominent schools of thought to illustrate the way phenomenology has been used by researchers in fields such as education and psychology. The work of van Manen (1990) (following the Utrecht School) and Giorgi (1983)(follower of empirical phenomenological psychology) are presented to show two contrasting approaches to carrying out phenomenological research. While van Manen's work has been influenced by a human science pedagogy and the Dutch movement of phenomenological pedagogy, Giorgi's insights have been drawn from phenomenological psychology. The philosophical underpinnings of these two research approaches are identified and discussed.To illustrate the accessibility and relevance of phenomenology as a research approach, some examples of phenomenological studies are provided. Common to the methodology of these studies is an inquiry approach that seeks to understand and explicate the meaning of human phenomena by helping to unravel the lived structures of meaning.The paper is literature based as it reviews writing about phenomenogy as both a philosophical orientation and a methodology. The paper provides some examples of research studies that have utilised phenomenology to illustrate its applicability and relevance.The paper makes a cogent argument for the applicability and relevance of phenomenology as an educational research approach. It argues that because education is a human centred activity, phenomenology is a particularly relevant methodology as it is concerned with understanding the complexity of human experience and what it means to be human.Burns, R. (1984). Introduction to research methods, 2nd edition. London: Longman Cheshire. Chamberlin, J.G. (1974). Phenomenological methodology and understanding education. In D. Denton (Ed), Existentialism and phenomenology in education (pp. 119-137). Teachers College, Columbia, Teachers College Press. Ehrich, L.C. (1997). Principals and professional development: a phenomenological study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Ehrich, L. C. (1999). 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