Abstract
Child and Youth Care (CYC) students have the right to be engaged in pedagogical practices that inspire and arouse their curiosity about their field of practice. Undergraduate course-based research in which students have an opportunity to conduct authentic research within a for-credit course is one such high-impact pedagogical practice with a growing body of evidence-based outcomes. This article presents an undergraduate course-based research project that examined child and youth care student’s beliefs about displaying love as a component of their practice. Located in the constructivist/interpretive research paradigm, this course-based research project collected data through the use of an expressive arts-based data method followed by a semi-structured questionnaire. Four overarching themes were identified during the thematic analysis: (a) authentic caring involves expressions of love, (b) expressions of love are an essential component of growth and development, (c) loving care as an ethic of relational practice, and (d) but…professionalism stands in the way. The results of this course-based study suggest that expressing love as a component of relational-centred CYC practice is not fully understood by CYC students and that much more research is needed to explore this issue.
Highlights
The therapeutic relationship has been the core of child and youth care (CYC) practice, and practitioners involved in the field have long strived to embody the basic human virtues exemplified by relationalcentred practice
Given that the need to be loved is hardwired in our brains and is such a powerful determinant of happiness, why are we not encouraged to consider expressions of love to be a basic component of relational-centred CYC practice? Scholars throughout the helping professions, including education, nursing, social work, and CYC, have written about the concept of love, yet there remains a great deal of uncertainty and uneasiness about love‘s place in professional relationships (Arman and Rehnsfeldt, 2006; Artz, 2000; Hooks, 2000; Smith, 2006;2011; Starratt, 1991; Stickley and Freshwater, 2002; Thich, 2007; Underwood, 2009)
The thematic analysis resulted in the identification of themes. These include: (a) authentic caring involves expressions of love, (b) expressions of love are an essential component of growth and development, (c) loving care as an ethic of relational practice (d) but...Professionalism stands in the way
Summary
The therapeutic relationship has been the core of child and youth care (CYC) practice, and practitioners involved in the field have long strived to embody the basic human virtues exemplified by relationalcentred practice. Bellefeuille et al (2017), for example, consider relational-centred CYC practice to be a deeply intrapersonal process that demands a genuine willingness on the part of the practitioner to engage in authentic caring. Bellefeuille et al (2017), for example, consider relational-centred CYC practice to be a deeply intrapersonal process that demands a genuine willingness on the part of the practitioner to engage in authentic caring. American psychiatrist and senior fellow of the Child Trauma Academy Dr Bruce Perry states: The most important property of humankind is the capacity to form and maintain relationships. These relationships are absolutely necessary for any of us to survive, learn, work, love and procreate. Human relationships take many forms, but the most intense, most pleasurable and most painful are those relationships with family, friends and loved ones. Within this inner circle of intimate relationships, we are bonded to each other with ―emotional glue‖—bonded with love. (2019, p.1)
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