This contribution provides insights into learning research conducted at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, where vignette research was developed in a grant-funded project still in progress. It has been designed to gain access to students' learning experiences in the classroom as they occur rather than measuring learning by its outcome. The authors frame the research need out of which this lived experience methodology developed and describe its theoretical foundations in phenomenology. The vignette research is illustrated by a hermeneutic phenomenological vignette reading which explores the impact that explicit and implicit ascriptions have on children's learning as well as on the pedagogical practice of the teacher. The significance of the Innsbruck Vignette Research for research into teaching and learning is presented as well as the relevance of vignette work for teaching and learning and teacher education.