Pedagogical Relationship Research Articles

Authentic assessment as relational pedagogy

ABSTRACT This article troubles a pervasive concept within higher education studies: authentic assessment. Authentic assessment is well-established within higher education, and yet its common usage leaves it limited in possibility. Often understood as a practice focused on tasks, where assessments represent a ‘reality’ beyond universities, authentic assessment praxis has missed engaging with wider literature exploring authenticity as an emergent quality connected with being and becoming. In this article, I first consider the utility of concepts in education, and then spotlight a change in how authentic assessment is being understood. I then move to explore how relational pedagogies might offer further insights into how assessment can be conceptualised and enacted, sketching shapes for thinking differently about authenticity in assessment. Extending the exciting conversation that is redirecting praxis, I argue that thinking with theory can help us think and enact assessment in a more meaningful mode, where assessment becomes a relational, ethical, act.

Raising nurse educators’ awareness regarding caring pedagogical relationships’ barriers to foster inclusive simulation settings: Insights from a phenomenological study

AimThe purpose of this paper was to shed light on the main barriers to caring pedagogical relationships within simulation centers from the perspective of nursing students and offer targeted strategies to reduce these barriers. BackgroundA caring pedagogical relationship is a powerful strategy to foster students’ learning within simulation settings. However, the development of this relationship could be hindered if nurse educators are not aware of its barriers. Hence, this could affect students’ learning and well-being within this academic context. According to our knowledge, no previous research has addressed the question of the barriers to caring pedagogical relationships within the context of simulation. DesignThis study employed a descriptive phenomenological method, entitled Relational Caring Inquiry, to collect and analyze data gathered from 19 students enrolled in an undergraduate nursing program. ResultsThis paper focuses on one eidos-theme that emerged from our data analysis and interpretation entitled “Educator’s conscientization regarding barriers to the development of a caring pedagogical relationship”. According to data analysis and interpretation, this eidos-theme was the most emphasized by research participants. It emerged from the following themes: (a) educators’ dehumanizing practices, (b) disruptive and stressful academic context, (c) lack of educators’ experiences and (d) educators’ disinterest in students’ learning. ConclusionsLeaving caring pedagogical relationships’ barriers unaddressed has shown adverse impacts on students’ learning process and their mental and physical well-being. This paper brings to light the main barriers to caring pedagogical relationships and invites educators, managers and nurse leaders to be aware of these obstacles and collectively engage in humanizing nursing education. In other words, we emphasize the impact of these barriers on students’ apprenticeship and suggest political actions to build caring and inclusive simulation environments. Study Registration NumberCERSES-19–050-D.

Learning to the rhythm: On the potential of music in fostering relations in the classroom

AbstractThis article draws on a case study of a third‐year geography course to explore the potential of music in fostering relational pedagogy in higher education. We argue that the reciprocal nature of music sharing generates a dialogical space that allows for multiple relations to be developed between the learners and their selves, among students and peers, between learners and teachers, as well as between students and the materials they study and the wider world. Furthermore, music encourages an approach to pedagogy that is emancipatory and which is characterised by genuine care, humility and trust.

Improving the Learning Experience of Chinese Masters’ students in UK higher education

ABSTRACT Both challenges and opportunities are inherent with a growth in Chinese international students in UK Higher Education. However, teachers from the West may not understand the differences in Chinese educational practices, which can lead to negative stereotyping of these students as passive and problematic. This paper rejects this deficit perspective, focusing on the views of Chinese students as to what might need to change about the UK teaching and campus environment to improve their learning experience. Two focus groups were held with Chinese social science Masters’ students in a UK university. Some of their key requests included to reduce class sizes; to provide more guidance around study skills; to offer more timely and accessible information; to provide a more flexible range of services and learning support; and to create more social time with staff and other students. The discussions particularly brought out the importance of ‘relational pedagogy’. These requirements will need more staff time and institutional flexibility which will necessitate adequate funding. The authors conclude that, despite Chinese students’ significant contribution to the local economy and to University finances, there does not seem to be a commensurate investment in protecting their wellbeing and ensuring they receive a quality education. We consider it is important to listen to and act on the students’ suggestions outlined here if UK Higher Education is to remain the destination of choice for many Chinese and other international students.

Joint attention, the pedagogical relation, and pedagogical tact in the age of digital education

ABSTRACT This article aims to articulate the richness of the pedagogical relation and pedagogical tact in an age of the near ubiquitous presence of digital education. Drawing on Citton, we argue that there is an ecology of attentional influence that is pedagogically decisive. Our argument proceeds as follows: first, we introduce Citton’s theoretical frame; second, we examine the general conception of education that is established and articulated through the pedagogical relations between educator, student and world; third, we consider the concept of pedagogical tact and analyse how Citton’s framing of attention gives shape to understanding pedagogical tact; last, we connect attention to education, arguing that education concerns drawing attention to aspects of the world through pedagogically tactful action. We conclude by calling for greater reflection on aspects of education which are difficult to render digitally, and which rely on the speculative and interpretive capacities of the educator.

Transforming relationships. Pedagogical tact as a utopian figure of mediation

ABSTRACT The article discusses the figure of pedagogical tact in its cultural and social entanglements and transformations. Tact is reconstructed from a dialectical-relational perspective as a utopian figure which arises both within pedagogical relationships and from the relationships to the respective cultural and social conditions – more precisely: from a criticism of them. In this dialectical tension, it is argued that relationships are both transformative and, in turn, require transformations in order to enable tactful pedagogical action.

Safe Spaces and Critical Places: Youth Programming and Community Support

In this article we explore the work of two after-school programs in Toronto, Ontario. Our Youth Success (OYS) is a community-based mentoring program dedicated to lowering the push-out rates of students of Spanish and/or Portuguese-speaking descent. In the Youth Speak Program (YSP), community activists use spoken word poetry and rapping as a vehicle for Black students to express their emotional lives. The data we present come from two separate studies which both used ethnographic approaches, focusing on observation and interviews with participants (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2019). Using Critical Race Theory (CRT), we examine interview data on how the pedagogical relationships developed in these spaces promote the wellbeing of Latinx and Black youth beyond academic outcomes. We argue that these spaces provide insight into the transformative possibilities of critical pedagogies for the wellbeing and healing of communities who have long been marginalized from mainstream institutions.

Transforming Online Teaching Through Relational Ways of Being

We explore the need for educators to design, implement, and assess online education for Indigenous students with intention and in a good way. As more Indigenous learners access online programs, it is essential to amplify the discussion on how post-secondary education institutions can better design educational programs and support learners through intentionally engaging in relational ways of being. Drawing from our experience delivering the Professional Project Administrator Program, we examine the significance of partnership building in enhancing cultural learning within the online space. We highlight the need for intentional faculty development initiatives and discuss the challenges that became an avenue for unlearning and educational innovation. Furthermore, we delve into the design and implementation of a holistic rubric tailored specifically to support the implementation of relational pedagogies. We hope that these learnings offer useful lessons for online teaching, emphasizing the need to foster culturally responsive environments where learners can thrive.

Понятие субъекта педагогической деятельности: философский анализ

The article delves into the philosophical analysis of the concept of the subject of pedagogical activity. The concept of the subject in the context of pedagogical activity has long been a subject of philosophical inquiry. The authors focus on the well-known principle of subject-to-subject relations, wherein both the educator and the learners are considered subjects of activity, has gained prominence in educational discourse. The authors argue that despite the attractiveness of this approach, it has certain limitations. To be considered a subject of pedagogical activity, individuals must meet specific requirements. Therefore, the authors of the article suggest that assuming all learners are a priori subjects of pedagogical activity is a flawed assumption. This article aims to provide a rationale for this thesis and spark a discussion on this topic. Much in this matter hinges on the definition of the concept of the subject of pedagogical activity. In conclusion, the concept of the subject of pedagogical activity warrants a nuanced philosophical analysis to elucidate the complexities inherent in attributing subjecthood in educational settings. By delineating the criteria for subject status and deconstructing the notion of universal subjectivity, this article contributes to the ongoing discourse on the nature of pedagogical relationships and the dynamics of agency within educational frameworks.

Adopting a Relational Pedagogy for Academic Library Internships

Adopting a Relational Pedagogy for Academic Library Internships

Nursing Students’ Perspectives on Caring Pedagogical Relationship Within the Context of Simulation: A Phenomenological Inquiry

Abstract:This phenomenological research aimed to describe and understand nursing students’ meaning of the lived experience of a caring pedagogical relationship within the context of high-fidelity clinical simulation. Being inspired by a relational emancipatory pedagogy perspective, our findings highlighted an authentic engagement of educators as the cornerstone to fostering a safe, caring, and inclusive learning space, allowing them to co-create a humanistic collaboration with students to transform their learning process. Innovative and various avenues arising from our findings have been suggested in different domains of nursing practice to promote students’ learning and develop a caring inclusive learning community within simulation centers.

Studying children’s small science and early engineering learning process to help shape their cultural identity in culturally valued play-based experience

There are no conflicts between intentional teaching and play-based learning. However, educators find it challenging to establish the pedagogical relationship between them as they struggle to conceptualise and enact their role in the play-based context. In particular, educators’ confidence level is not enough to teach science and engineering in a play-based context. However, there is an increasing demand to integrate teaching practice for STEM learning in early childhood settings. Play is a pleasure and a leading source for children’s learning and cultural maturation process as part of their social and cultural experiences, and adults’ support can enhance children’s STEM learning process in a play-based context. This paper investigates how educators’ intentional teaching plan can support children’s small science and engineering learning process in culturally valued play. A total of 50 h of video data, representing 64 children aged from 10 months to 5 years, were collected through digital video observation over a period of seven weeks in an early childhood centre in Australia. This paper uses the dialectical interactive approach to analyse a 95-min video clip of children’s (3 to 5 years of age) play in a cultural context. It is argued that educators progress their learning and confidence to teach science and engineering in play-based settings when they could choose the activity from their community culture or centre-based practice. The findings of the study provide a pedagogical model for educators, which provides a conceptual framework for STEM-based learning in a culturally valued play.

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

Engaging 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.