relational pedagogy

Shared Reading (SR) is a communal well-being intervention in which a literary text is read aloud and discussed in a group. A form of emotion-centred close reading, SR emerged as a reaction against elitist academic norms and was developed in an attempt to emotionalise and democratise literary study by moving it outside of the confines of the university. This theoretical essay argues that humanities and social science lecturers might benefit from introducing SR praxis into their classes. Each section analyses an aspect of SR through emotionally engaged (hooks, Palmer), relational (Hickey, Riddle, Gravett), and critical (Freire) pedagogical and theoretical lenses, arguing that SR serves many of the aspirations of these pedagogies. I then consider how SR might be implemented in an academic setting and the kind of adaptations that might be necessary. This essay is a thought experiment which I hope will lay the groundwork for a more sustained and applied experiment in SR. Throughout, I argue that infusing SR into university settings has the potential to positively benefit student well-being and academic performance.

This study examined the lived experiences of teachers handling students with special needs in mainstream classrooms at Holy Cross Colleges, Inc. Pampanga during the 2026–2027 school year. Anchored in Husserlian descriptive phenomenology and informed by Social Cognitive Theory and Social Constructivist Theory, the study described how nine purposively selected teachers experienced, responded to, and made meaning of teaching learners with special needs without specialized preparation. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and field notes and analyzed using Colaizzi's method, involving the extraction of significant statements, formulation of meanings, and clustering of themes into a synthesized essential structure. Four themes emerged: Thrown Into Inclusion: Teaching Without a Map, describing participants' unplanned, unsupported entry into inclusive teaching; Reading the Signs: Identifying and Managing Crisis in the Classroom, capturing their reliance on sustained observation and the hidden emotional labor of crisis response; Crafting a Classroom That Fits: Individualized and Relational Pedagogy, describing instructional strategies built through trial and adjustment; and It Takes a School: Collaboration, Gaps, and Shared Responsibility, documenting the collaborative networks and institutional gaps participants navigated. Together, these themes revealed that teaching a student with special needs in a mainstream classroom was experienced as a largely unassisted process of improvisation, sustainable only when a supportive relational and institutional network was present or actively built by the teacher. These findings informed the Teacher Inclusive Practice and Support Framework, proposed as the study's practical output, with implications for classroom practice, institutional policy, and future research on inclusive education.

Reflective conversation is a powerful relational pedagogical tool. When embedded within personal tutor conversations, it can enhance the student experience of mattering in higher education, where increasing student numbers can reduce the relational quality and experience of learning. Personal tutor conversations that embed reflective dialogue therefore have the potential to become purposeful conversations, empowering students to feel heard and understood. As key components of mattering, feeling heard and understood when achieved, enable personal tutors to develop accurate, empathic understanding of the student’s lived experience of learning and teaching. Furthermore, reflective dialogue embedded within personal tutor conversations can empower students to get to know themselves. Supporting the student to develop an enduring curiosity into who and why they are creates space for the generation of knowledge that can enhance self-awareness. However, this piece argues that for this to be truly meaningful, personal tutors need to recognise the value of reflection for themselves, have the courage to develop their own reflective mindset and skills, and model reflective behaviours if students are to perceive they matter through the relational reflective pedagogy inherent in personal tutor conversations

This study explores how pre-service teachers navigate the developmental continuum of reflective practice to construct their professional identities during microteaching. Drawing on reflection papers and peer/instructor feedback from 44 EFL pre-service teachers, as well as instructor feedback, the study employed qualitative analysis to trace the chronological trajectory from retrospective critique (reflection-on-action) to proactive pedagogical planning (reflection-for-action). The findings reveal a profound shift that moves beyond mere technical troubleshooting. First, participants transformed initial pedagogical friction and performative anxiety into vital opportunities for emotional regulation. Second, they evolved from executing rigid lesson plans to architecting responsive instructional dynamics. Finally, they rejected teacher-centered transmission, embracing a relational pedagogy designed to foster learner agency. Crucially, this evolution was catalyzed by dialogic scaffolding; peer and instructor feedback functioned not as summative evaluation, but as socially mediated intervention that bridged the gap between diagnosing limitations and envisioning their professional identity as an effective teacher. Ultimately, this study reconceptualizes reflection not as a solitary, post-lesson administrative task, but as a profound ontological bridge. The findings suggest that teacher education programs must embed socially mediated, forward-oriented reflective cycles to empower novices to evolve from anxious performers into adaptive, self-directed professionals capable of true reflective agency.

این مطالعه بررسی می‌کند که چگونه معلمان پیش‌خدمت در طیف توسعه‌ای تمرین تأملی حرکت می‌کنند تا هویت حرفه‌ای خود را در طول میکروتدریس بسازند. با استفاده از مقالات تأملی و بازخورد همتایان/مدرس از ۴۴ معلم پیش‌خدمت زبان انگلیسی به عنوان زبان خارجی (EFL) و همچنین بازخورد مدرس، این پژوهش از تحلیل کیفی برای ردیابی مسیر زمانی از نقد بازنگرانه (تأمل بر عمل) تا برنامه‌ریزی آموزشی پیش‌نگرانه (تأمل برای عمل) بهره برد. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که یک تغییر عمیق رخ داده است که فراتر از رفع مشکلات فنی صرف می‌باشد. نخست، شرکت‌کنندگان اصطکاک‌های اولیه آموزشی و اضطراب اجرایی را به فرصت‌های حیاتی برای تنظیم هیجانی تبدیل کردند. دوم، آن‌ها از اجرای برنامه‌های درسی سخت‌گیرانه به طراحی پویایی‌های آموزشی پاسخگو تحول یافتند. در نهایت، آن‌ها انتقال معلم‌محور را رد کرده و پداگوژی رابطه‌ای را پذیرفتند که با هدف تقویت عاملیت یادگیرنده طراحی شده بود. نکته اساسی این است که این تحول توسط داربست‌بندی گفت‌وگویی تسهیل شد؛ بازخورد همتایان و مدرس نه به عنوان ارزیابی جمع‌بندی، بلکه به عنوان مداخله‌ای اجتماعی-واسطه عمل کرد که فاصله بین تشخیص محدودیت‌ها و تصور هویت حرفه‌ای به عنوان یک معلم مؤثر را پر کرد. در نهایت، این مطالعه تأمل را نه به عنوان یک وظیفه اداری انفرادی پس از درس، بلکه به عنوان پلی هستی‌شناختی عمیق بازتصور می‌کند. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که برنامه‌های تربیت معلم باید چرخه‌های تأملی اجتماعی-واسطه و آینده‌نگر را در خود جای دهند تا نوآموزان را توانمند سازند که از اجراکنندگان مضطرب به حرفه‌ای‌های سازگار و خودراهبر با عاملیت تأملی واقعی تبدیل شوند.