There are scientific paradigm and humanistic paradigm in educational research, and qualitative research is actually the humanistic paradigm in pedagogy. The evolution of the meaning of German word Buildung in philosophy and education shows that education is an important embodiment of individual life world. In educational activities, on the one hand, individuals are shaped by the traditional and existing world of meaning, on the other hand, they constantly generate new world of meaning in the process of accepting this "shaping". Therefore, education embodies the wholeness, individuality, difference and richness of the humanistic world. Education itself is a humanistic practice. The method of natural science has obvious limitations in revealing the above characteristics of education. Adhering to the qualitative research of experience description and hermeneutics method is very suitable for studying the humanity of education. Qualitative research will eventually move towards action research, thus unifying the theory and practice of educational research in educational activities and people's life world.

Since 1990s, qualitative research has been introduced into Chinese mainland. In recent 20 years, China has translated and published a large number of related works. Qualitative research has been widely valued and applied in educational research. However, people's understanding of qualitative research is limited to a research method, and qualitative research is regarded as a research method corresponding to quantitative research. This practice, to a great extent, does not highlight the unique value and significance of qualitative research in educational research. In my opinion, according to the tradition of hermeneutics, education is a humanistic phenomenon first, so educational research has humanistic attributes. The significance and value of qualitative research to pedagogy research lies in that it is a humanistic paradigm in educational research. Only through qualitative research can we better explain the humanity of education, better understand educational activities and improve the level of educational practice.