Abstract
The notion of 'deep' and 'surface' approaches to learning is critiquedalong with phenomenography, the associated methodology and theory ofknowledge. A number of reasons are suggested to explain why the deep/surfacenotion has attained what is tantamount to foundational status within highereducation research, practice and development. These include its ability toboth cohere with the past while at the same time enabling a new generation ofresearchers to rise within the discourse; the contemporaneous growth ofeducational development centres and staff developers within higher educationinstitutions; the simplicity, universality and power of the metaphor.
Some elements of a critique of phenomenography are suggested followingboth postmodern and philosophy of science objections regarding theobservational and interpretive neutrality of the researcher. These point tothe importance of the understandings of researchers in the construction ofresults. It is also suggested that the 'qualitative' nat ure of the researchis undeveloped and does not exhibit the hermeneutical values usuallyassociated with 'human' as opposed to positivist science.
The idea of deconstruction is then introduced and the deep/surfacemetaphor discussed in terms of the post-structural critique of binaries.Finally, the question of power within the higher education developmentdiscourse is raised.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Apple, M. (1986). Teachers and Texts: A Political Economy of Class and Gender Relations in Education. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Bernstein, R.J. (1983). Beyond Objectivism and Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics and Praxis. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Bloom, B.S., Englehart, M.B., Frost, E.J., Hill, W.H. and Krathwohl, D.R. (1956).Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook 1- Cognitive Domain. New York: Longmans.
Cherryholmes, C.H. (1988). Power and Criticism. Poststructural Investigations in Education. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.
Dahlgren, L.-O. (1984). 'Outcomes of learning', in F. Marton, D. Hounsell and N. Entwistle (ed.), The Experience of Learning. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, pp. 19–35.
Dahlgren, L.-O. and Marton, F. (1978). 'Students' conceptions of subject matter: an aspect of learning and teaching in higher education', Studies in Higher Education 3: 25–35.
Derrida, J. (1973). Speech and Phenomena. And Other Essays on Husserl's Theory of Signs. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Entwistle, N. (1984). 'Contrasting perspectives on learning', in F. Marton, D. Hounsell and N. Entwistle (eds.), The Experience of Learning. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, pp. 1–18.
Epstein, J. and Straub, K. (1992). Body Guards: The Cultural Politics of Gender Ambiguity. London: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1972). The Archaeology of Knowledge and the Discourse on Language. New York: Tavistock.
Foucault, M. (1979). Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison.New York: Random House.
Gagné, R.M. (1970). The Conditions of Learning. Second Edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Gibbs, G., Habeshaw, S. and Habeshaw, T. (1987). 53 Interesting Things to do in your Lectures. Avon, UK: Technical and Educational Services.
Habermas, J. (1971). Knowledge and Human Interests. Boston: Beacon Press.
Kuhn, T.S. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Marton, F. (1981). 'Phenomenography-describing conceptions of the world around us', Instructional Science 10: 177–200.
Marton, F. (1986). 'Phenomenography-A research approach to investigating different understandings of reality', Journal of Thought 21(3): 28–49.
Marton, F., Dall'Alba, G. and Lai, K.T. (1993). 'The paradox of the Chinese Learner', Educational Research and Development Unit (RMIT) Occasional Paper 93.1: 1–17.
Marton, F., Hounsell, D. and Entwistle, N. (eds.) (1984). The Experience of Learning. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
Marton, F. and Säljö, R. (1976). 'On qualitative differences in learning: I-Outcome and process', British Journal of Educational Psychology 46: 4–11.
Morss, J. (1990). The Biologising of Childhood: Developmental Psychology and the Darwinian Myth. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Norris, C. (1982). Deconstruction: Theory and Practice. London: Methuen.
Pask, G. and Scott, B.C.E. (1972). 'Learning strategies and individual competence', International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 4: 217–239 & 242-253.
Popper, K.R. (1972). Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ryan, M. (1982) Marxism and Deconstruction. A Critical Articulation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Säljö, R. (1988). 'Learning in educational settings: methods of inquiry', in P. Ramsden (ed.), Improving Learning. New Perspectives. London: Kogan Page, pp. 32–48.
Sarup, M. (1989). An Introductory Guide to Post-structuralism and Postmodernism. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.
Seung, T.K. (1982). Structuralism and Hermeneutics. New York: Columbia University Press.
Taylor, G. (1993). 'A theory of practice: hermeneutical understanding', Higher Education Research and Development 12(1): 59–72.
Webb, G. (1992). 'On pretexts for higher education development activities', Higher Education 24(3): 351–361.
Webb, G. (1996). Understanding Staff Development. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Witkin, H.A. (1975). 'Some implications of research on cognitive style for problems of education', in J.M. Whitehead (ed.) Personality and Learning 1. Milton Keynes: Hodder and Stoughton in association with the Open University Press}, pp. 288–314.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Webb, G. Deconstructing deep and surface: Towards a critique of phenomenography. Higher Education 33, 195–212 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002905027633
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002905027633