Pedagogical Relationship Research Articles

Nurturing the Human Dimension in Digital and Medical Spaces Through Pedagogy of Care - a Case of Creative Enquiry.

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in digital learning experiences to front and centre of medical education in disruptive ways. As the pandemic subsides students and educators sigh in relief, longing to move away from the loneliness and disconnection and back to the norms of face-to-face learning and consulting. In the field of medical education however, the need for digital education has exponentially increased over the decade with strong evidence for future growth. We face the pressure of increasing student numbers on clinical placement and some students now desire or even need hybrid options for the flexibility of time, place, and pace. There is persistent criticism that digital education lacks human connection. This paper argues, however, that it is possible and vital to humanise the virtual learning experience, though particular attention needs to be given to digital pedagogy and relational aspects of learning and teaching. Drawing on Noddings' pedagogies of care and her theoretical model, we unpack one case-study of a medical education elective course that transitioned online during the pandemic. The aim of this paper is to engage medical educators with the pedagogy of care and relational pedagogy literature, which are currently almost absent from the medical education literature, as applied to the digital education realm. Core themes include modelling care and connection, enabling dialogue, inviting student engagement and practice in caring for each other and supporting the deeper work of being present themselves and confirming each other. Limitations and implications for future research will also be explored.

Pedagogical relations as a decolonisation tool in African higher education: Reflection on the ethics of care, respect, and trust

This article uses the findings obtained from a study that delves into the perceptions of students on their relationship with their higher education (HE) lecturers and how it affects their academic success, to respond to the issue of decolonisation in South African HE, and to approach the question of decolonising HE in Africa. The article argues that it is essential to prioritise student well-being, amplify their voices, and promote a caring culture towards addressing the issue of decolonisation in African education systems. The study shows that African HE students hold higher expectations of their lecturers beyond being professionals. This expectation includes respect for students’ thoughts and incorporation of epistemology that aligns with fostering African development, culture and thoughts (without necessarily conforming to neoliberal norms). The four categories of the teacher’s role, which include academic development, respect and trust, social relationships, and ethics of care are highly demanded by HE students. Borrowing the study outcome, this article holds the view that students’ high expectations of their lecturers to foster social relationships should be channelled to incorporate the African student as a collaborator in the business of education and as a response to the demands of HE students to decolonise African education system. These four categories are not only institutional strategies for effective teaching and learning but also a way to address the non-inclusive impact of Western epistemology on historically racial institutions in Africa.Contribution: This article proposes that adopting mainstream pedagogical relationships can be a powerful tool in incorporating the African students’ thoughts and a step towards liberating the HE system in Africa. It recommends these four cardinal themes as institutional strategies for restricting teaching and learning that relegate students to the receiving end thus systems that refute students as collaborators of knowledge sharing especially at historically racial institutions.

El rol de la esperanza en la educación a partir de Gabriel Marcel

The philosopher and playwright Gabriel Marcel reflects on hope as the fruit of an experience of interpersonal communion that opens to man renewed horizons of meaning. From his contributions, in this article, the fundamental role of hope will be highlighted as an intrinsic dynamism of the pedagogical relationship, which is revealed as a reciprocal birth of educator and learner, in a progressive awakening to intersubjective fullness.

Criminalised, victimised or other? A reflexive engagement with Queer Criminology utilising a relational pedagogical approach.

Queer Criminology is a newfound area of exploration within the discipline of Criminology, which is uniquely positioned to deal with issues regarding crime and victimisation concerning those from the LGBTQIA+ community and gender diverse/minoritized groups. The field of "Queer Criminology" has become vast and expanding, having explored issues of interpersonal, structural and systematic inequality concerning those from the community and beyond. To this end, narratives of victimisation, trauma and injustice have dominated (and limited) understandings of Queer Criminology. Moreover, limited thinking has been attributed within the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), which seeks to understand LGBTQIA+ individuals and groups-beyond binarized thinking of victimhood or criminalised. In this article, we offer the perspectives of two higher education professionals teaching Queer Criminology in a "flipped" classroom environment, which positions the learner as expert within the subject matter and utilises a relational pedagogy lens to do so. We discuss the use of our reflexive practice, as both Feminist Decolonial and Queer Criminologists. The article touches upon trauma informed approaches to teaching Queer Criminology. We offer several steps in building a coalition of learning, which can unpick the potential policy, theory, and practical tensions of teaching Queer Criminological Scholarship.

Followers, customers, or partners? Comparing conceptualisations of students as partners in Australian, Mainland Chinese, and Hong Kong universities

AbstractEngaging students as partners (SaP) is an approach promoting meaningful pedagogical relationships in higher education. Scholars have called for more culturally situated research on SaP that compares Anglophone countries with other contexts. In response, we conducted an exploratory qualitative study by interviewing 36 undergraduate students from Australia, Mainland China, and Hong Kong. Adopting the relational lens of SaP, the interviews focused on conceptualisations of pedagogical partnership, specifically learner–teacher identities and power dynamics. Through comparative and reflexive thematic analysis, we found that understandings of partnership in different contexts were influenced by broader cultural differences. The findings showed that the perception of SaP in Australia was consistent with the prevailing Western discourse, but the notion of SaP was adapted and re-shaped in Mainland China, and in Hong Kong, there were diverse interpretations of it. This study contributes to new understandings of the influence of specific sociocultural and policy variations in SaP practises through culturally situated and comparative research using theorisations of perpetual translation. We argue for future research to contribute collective insights and nuanced, diverse understandings that expand SaP as an approach to global scholarship.

Pedagogical relationships in short-term study abroad programmes: exploring the role of consumer identity in collaborative learning among Chinese students in the UK

PurposeThe marketisation of higher education fosters the notion of students as consumers, highlighting the shifting dynamics of student–teacher relationships. This paper aims to contribute to ongoing discussions about students as consumers and their involvement in pedagogical practices. We explore students’ experiences in short-term study abroad (SA) programmes that involve collaborative learning, examining how a consumerism-oriented approach affects students’ perceptions of their pedagogical identities and student–teacher pedagogical relationships.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative exploratory study was conducted to capture students’ rich and subjective perceptions and experiences. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 15 Chinese undergraduate students who participated in a short-term SA programme at a UK university. Following data translation and transcription, a thematic analysis approach facilitated our exploration.FindingsChinese students engage in SA programmes as a strategic investment in personal growth and transformation, with their consumer-oriented identity fostering a mutually beneficial relationship with educators and group members. This consumer mindset appears to enhance active student engagement and, to some extent, create reciprocal student–teacher interactions through power sharing and collaborative involvement.Originality/valueThis study presents empirical data exploring the impact of consumer identity on the dynamics of student–teacher relationships in the SA context. It provides recommendations for implementing pedagogical approaches designed to mediate the influence of consumerism on student engagement, particularly in shaping collaborative student–teacher relationships. This study offers insights for future research on the effects of consumerism in higher education within cross-cultural contexts.

Using Open Educational Practices: Implications for Nursing Education.

This paper reports on our use of open educational practices (OEPs) with online students in nursing. Our aim was to provide nurse educators with knowledge about (and examples of) OEPs they could use to enhance student learning and their career satisfaction. Using collaborative autoethnography, we probed our open teaching strategies. With Swanson's middle-range theory of caring as a theoretical framework and thematic analysis of our data set (which included literature annotations, dialogic conversation transcripts, individual reflections, and course evaluations), we uncovered 5 themes relevant to nursing education. The themes are student achievement of affective domain learning outcomes, our values as a blueprint for action, alignment of our OEPs and relational pedagogy, mutuality of the experience, and the ongoing process of learning to be an open educational practitioner. Using OEPs can help develop skilled and caring nurses.

Communities of practice in art and design teaching in higher education: Considering the literature

This article provides an overview of relevant literature related to the broader research area of communities of practice, and indicates relationships between this literature and the disciplinary context of art and design teaching in Higher Education. Initially the rationale for selection of literature is provided, then the specific disciplinary context of the research area is indicated, through the lens of signature pedagogies, in order to situate the research in context and explore the use of these pedagogies in relation to learning and teaching art and design. Communities of practice, and developments within this concept, are explored, providing an understanding of how learning and teaching may occur in practically focused subject areas. Finally insights from both bodies of literature are synthesised to indicate implications for art and design in higher education, and opportunities for further research.

‘As I Learn from you, I Guess You Learn From Me’: Three Modernists on the Teaching of English

Abstract The subject of this essay is the way modernist literary texts represent and think about the teaching of English, especially when it is conceived as a subject grounded within relational pedagogies and experiences of collaboration and interdependence between student and teacher. I begin with an autobiographical reflection on my own experience of teaching a text that calls attention to its pedagogical import, before outlining a view of English that resonates with the work of D.W. Winnicott as well as an existing body of education-focused scholarship in modernist literary studies. The first of three examples at the centre of the essay comes from the long work of experimental modernist fiction Pilgrimage by Dorothy Richardson, who depicts a moment of English teaching based around friendship and equality. The next section examines a moment from D.H. Lawrence’s novel The Rainbow, in which the young Tom Brangwen undergoes a deep and troubling experience listening to his teacher read Shelley’s poem ‘Ode to the West Wind’. The final section reads Langston Hughes’s poem ‘Theme for English B’ as a parable of dialogic learning.

Rediscovery of Forgotten Dimensions of Pedagogical Practice from Continental Perspective

AbstractThis article critically assesses contemporary empirical educational research, directing attention toward overlooked facets of pedagogical practice. Here, Agnes Pfrang and Daniel Castner raise questions about predominant psychological approaches to empirical educational research, instead advocating for a holistic viewpoint that encompasses the subtleties of educational situations and experiences. They highlight the learning atmosphere and pedagogical relationships as crucial dimensions often neglected by researchers. By delving into the historical evolution of the relationship between educational research and empirical pedagogy, the article underscores the ramifications of an increasing emphasis on evidence‐based approaches. It contends that conventional control measures, focused on performance metrics and rankings, inadequately encapsulate the essence of pedagogy. Pfrang and Castner call for a paradigm shift, urging a more comprehensive and context‐sensitive framework in both educational research and practice. This article serves as a rallying cry for a nuanced understanding that embraces the multifaceted nature of educational interactions, advocating for a move away from traditional metrics and toward more inclusive perspectives.

Developing Volitional Readers Requires Breadth and Balance: Skills Alone Won’t do it

The learning and teaching of reading continues to be a source of contention in New Zealand education. In recent years, proponents of structured literacy approaches have argued for more attention to be paid to what they term the “science of reading”. They have emphasised skill development and argued against the inclusion of other approaches. A singular focus on skill development comes at a cost however, as being a reader requires more than simply being able to read words. When we consider a broader view of what it means to be a reader, we need to consider the reader as a whole person, and their place in a wider social context. This article discusses the “science of reading” in relation to Self-Determination Theory and considers how pedagogical approaches can contribute to, or work against, the development of children’s feelings of autonomy, relatedness, and competence in reading and their subsequent desire to read. A restricted focus and related pedagogies will have negative long-term impacts on individuals’ ability to access the many and varied benefits of truly being a reader. Some of the approaches being promoted will likely exacerbate existing concerns such as declining rates of volitional reading and achievement. While necessary, being technically capable is not enough, children must also see the value in reading and its outcomes if they are going to choose to do it.

Plato, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien Using Literary and Philosophical Texts to Navigate Post-Pandemic and Political Teaching Challenges

We examine how Plato, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R Tolkien responded to tumultuous times that included the ongoing reality of death through wars and plagues and social unrest. More specifically, we draw upon the historical backdrop of Plato’s dialogues, C.S. Lewis’s essay, “Learning in War-time”, and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings to bring to light important social and psychological dimensions of the learning process that may help students and educators navigate these tumultuous times that cause confrontation with death. We argue for a middle ground between emphasizing the “unprecedented” nature of events like COVID-19, the politically divisive state of affairs in America, the war in Ukraine, the devastation of earthquakes in Syria and Turkey, and the desire to find a new normal in the midst of world-wide turmoil. We first reflect on our experiences with pandemic teaching and learning. Then, we address some contemporary research on pandemic learning. Third, we turn to the historical backdrop of Plato’s dialogues, specifically the Plague, The Peloponnesian War, the rule of “The Thirty”, the restoration of democracy, and the Reconciliation Agreement in Athens. Fourth, we consider some of the effects of the first and second world wars for both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Finally, we suggest that Gandalf emerges as a model of the middle ground we aim for in our pedagogical relationships.

Affordances and constraints of integrating esports into higher education from the perspectives of students and teachers: An ecological systems approach

This study aimed to investigate the perceived affordances of incorporating esports into higher education using an ecological systems approach that examined the multiple factors shaping behaviours at the individual, interpersonal, and organisational levels. A total of 40 participants, comprising 32 students and 8 teachers, were invited to take part in semi-structured interviews. The data gathered from the interviews underwent qualitative analysis through the employment of thematic analysis methods. The results suggested that esports were perceived as having the potential to promote students’ skills development and foster an interactive learning culture. The study also identified constraints on esports integration at various levels, including student differences (i.e. in gaming interest, skills, attention, and physical capacity) and teachers’ insufficient knowledge (i.e. of esports and related pedagogy and content) at the individual level; concerns about the negative impacts of esports at the interpersonal level; and a lack of effective execution of university leadership at the organisational level. The results of this study offer valuable insights for education leaders into how to effectively exercise leadership in the context of esports. Specifically, the findings underscore the importance of developing professional development programmes for teachers to enhance their knowledge of the use of esports and related pedagogy and teaching content to improve the implementation of esports-based instruction.

Up and Down: Insights from a creative approach to online interactions with very young children

ABSTRACT This paper offers guidance for remote communication with young children based on an interpretive study of participants engaged in an online Theatre for Early Years (TEY) event, Up and Down. Drawing on practices used for in-person performance, the theatre-makers engaged interactively with children aged 1 and 2 and their accompanying adults through a conference video call. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used as an approach to generate themes from observation, and interviews with the parents. Three master themes were generated: Missing Live Performance, Unfiltered Response and Human Connection. The discussion was informed by relational pedagogies and the concept of cultural value. Those engaging with young children through video call software are encouraged to look for ways to create embodied, sensory, and ‘magical’ experiences; collaborate with the adults present; and take a strengths-based approach to the medium.

A relational approach to knowledge exchange in higher education

ABSTRACT Reference to Knowledge Exchange (KE) in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has become common place, reflecting the continued changing role of universities within society. Arguably, KE draws together notions of HEIs as purveyors of knowledge, with students helping to create a tripartite relationship with HEIs and the wider community as well as a civic responsibility to contribute to the wider public good. Realising the potential benefits of this inter-relationship required a problematising of the meanings of both knowledge and the notion of an exchange, drawing on the work of Dewey and Bernstein. Our paper offers an analysis of the different epistemological positions governing understandings of knowledge and how these are influenced by the performativity and neoliberal responsibilisation of modern universities. More specifically, the epistemological position encouraged by the modern university leads to a tension between measurement and evaluation of KE on the one hand and pedagogical practice on the other. Taking into account these tensions, the paper offers an alternative approach to knowledge exchange with suggested principles to underpin a future relational pedagogy for KE.

A Desire Seeks Its Dwelling: Gendering Literature Teaching from the Contributions of Feminist Pedagogies

In this article I set about theorising the construction of a gendered didactic of literature, one that accounts for alternative ways of reading and approaching literary texts in school settings. Throughout my article, I intend to trouble literary reading practices insofar as they are socio-cultural, embodied, and sexed-and-gendered in nature. To do so, I will borrow from literature teaching experiences set in high schools 1 from the Buenos Aires province (Argentina). My writing will analyse pedagogical accounts of classroom happenings from the theoretical contributions of language and literature teaching, as well as from feminist, queer, and decolonial epistemologies and pedagogies. These theoretical approaches propose grappling with literature from local and embodied stances – against the grain of a colonial, capitalist, white, androcentric, encyclopaedistic, and hetero-cisnormative matrix – and, from that locus, seek to produce insights about alternative ways of conceptualising knowledge, pedagogical relationships, and the very subjects engaged in teaching and learning in pedagogical settings.

Bite-sized language teaching in the digital wild: Relational pedagogy and micro-celebrity English teachers on Instagram

While ‘social media influencers’ have predominantly been studied in marketing and advertising, there has been an increase in language teachers' engagement in content creation on social media platforms. Informed by the principles of relational pedagogy (Kern, 2015, 2018), the present study explores how a group of Turkish teachers of English (n = 10) each with over 100,000 followers on Instagram navigate around the material, social, and individual multimodal semiotic resources to create English language teaching content. The data sources which include reels from teachers' public accounts and netnographic fieldwork notes were analyzed informed by the principles of social semiotics (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2001). The findings revealed that the teachers create digital artefacts relying on creative relationships between words, contexts, and situations and provide opportunities to practice simple conversations, learn vocabulary in context, and distinguish nuances in the pronunciation of challenging words. The multimodal meaning-making practices demonstrate how social, material, and individual affordances shape, reframe, or recontextualize linguistic meanings in various forms. These findings highlight the facilitative power of social media for noticing linguistic forms, interaction, participation, and multimodal communication with important implications for teacher education, identity, and professional development in the evolving landscape of language teaching in the digital wild.

Relational pedagogy in social care education: a model for relational justice

ABSTRACT Driven by a statutory obligation to protect the public, within the context of historical failings and institutional abuse, a process of professional regulation is transforming the profession of Social Care Work [SCW] in Ireland. Statutory registration requires Social Care Workers [SCWs] to demonstrate threshold-level proficiency standards, a challenge that has enlivened debates about theory, pedagogy, and practice. Although proficiency requirements are primarily instrumental and technical, focussing on case and risk-management, social justice is now central to the definition of SCW. However, there has been very little debate about what this entails for theory and practice and critical perspectives are marginal. In response, the value-based model of Relational Pedagogy, based on an ethic of care and relational justice , is proposed as a counterweight to the proficiency perspective by nurturing four inter-related sets of practices within social care education: (i) caring practices; (ii) critical practices; (iii); creative practices, and (iv) emancipatory practices.

Pedagogical video: a key learning object for e-learning, from mediation to mediatization

Current developments relating to integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) in learning lead us to wonder about the positive impact that pedagogical video can have on e-learning devices mediating between teacher and learner. Determining the concepts of mediatization and mediation constitutes one of the essential bases of any pedagogical engineering of mediated videos to ensure better transmission of knowledge. To articulate the two concepts of mediation and mediatization, designers, teachers, and trainers must not only mediate the contents of the video but also the pedagogical relation, the design and production process, without forgetting the scenarization phase of the pedagogical videos, which occupy an important place in the pedagogical engineering. In our article, after giving an overview of the two concepts, mediation, and mediatization, we define the pedagogical video, the use of the pedagogical video, and the forms of the pedagogical video. Then, we identify the mediatization tools of pedagogical videos and their mediatization articulation according to previous studies.

Embedding masculinities within a gender conscious relational pedagogy to transform education with boys experiencing compounded educational disadvantage

ABSTRACT Responding to a persistent gap in policy and practice, this paper offers a new gender conscious relational pedagogy, directly informed by boys and educators who have participated in Ulster University’s longitudinal ‘Taking Boys Seriously’ research in Northern Ireland. The development of this pedagogy is grounded in the authentic voices of boys from disadvantaged communities whom despite encountering multiple models of masculinity within a contested society, are rarely provided with opportunities to explore and better understand these in relation to themselves and others. Transcending the boundaries of formal and informal education, we have found this gender conscious relational pedagogy to be highly significant in re-engaging boys in education, increasing their participation, confidence, emotional support, behavioural management, critical thinking, and reflexivity. Our work contributes to a gender-transformative research agenda (Keddie and Bartel 2021) committed to an emancipatory praxis that engages intentionally with boys and educators to examine gender socialisation processes with a focus on masculinities, re-shaping power relations within contextual educational communities, and improving educational experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for disenfranchised adolescent boys and ultimately all learners.