Affectivity and Relational Awareness in Pedagogy and Education: moments of hesitation in intersubjective encounters

In this article, we put forward the concept ‘relational awareness’ to describe a conscious awareness of the experience of relational responsivity and dynamics of change in stressful intersubjective encounters in pedagogy and education. This concept is inspired by phenomenology and cultural-historical theory. We introduce the theories of extended affectivity, embodied resonance and intersubjectivity and relate these to cultural-historical psychology in order to explore how people appraise and understand situations related to societal goals, motives, practices and mediating means. Relational awareness, which involves being consciously aware of embodied, pre-reflective relational responsivity, is specific to the cultural context, to the mediating means, and the lived experiences of the person. Relational awareness and responsivity can be objects of reflection and education when educational practices include deliberate work on embodied experience and mediational means to reflect on and change experienced intercorporeity. Relational awareness differs from interpersonal perception in that it involves embodied activity mediated by embodied knowledge and social means of language and discourse.Our conceptualisation of relational awareness is empirically driven by two qualitative studies of preschool teachers’ and teachers’ embodied practices to become presently aware during intersubjective encounters with children in stressful everyday conditions. The embodied practices in the study were inspired by exercises in mindfulness and compassion, which were adjusted according to how the participants experienced their significance. The flexibly adjusted exercises and discourses appeared to provide participants with the mediational embodied and discoursive means to become relationally aware in difficult encounters. Biesta’s conceptualisation of ‘moments of hesitation’ contributes to the discussion of ‘relational awareness’ in education and care

Hvordan oplever pædagoger Professionel Egenomsorg i institutionslivet? En eksplorativ undersøgelse af, hvordan Professionel Egenomsorg viser sig i pædagogers arbejde i dagtilbud

Interest in self-compassion is increasing within the pedagogical field. However, research investigating how pre-school teachers experience caring for themselves and its significance for institutional life is sparse. This paper explores how 24 pre-school teachers who participated in a composite course experience the phenomenon of professional self-care and how it influenced their work. Data consists of group and individual interviews, as well as participants ´ written descriptions which formed the basis for a phenomenologically inspired analysis. The phenomenon is characterised by being associated with an intentional perception of the lived body, which increases the opportunities for changed attitudes in the lived interactions with children and colleagues. In a body-phenomenologically inspired perspective, the findings are discussed with the purpose of contributing to a nuanced understanding of the phenomenon and its influence on both children’s and adults´ institutional life.Interessen for self-compassion er stigende inden for det pædagogiske område, men studier, der undersøger, hvordan pædagoger oplever at rette omsorg mod dem selv, og hvilken betydning det får for institutionslivet, er sparsom. Artiklen her undersøger, hvordan 24 pædagoger, der har deltaget i et sammensat kursusforløb, oplever fænomenet Professionel Egenomsorg, og hvordan det viser sig i deres arbejde. Data er indsamlet som gruppe – og individuelle interviews samt deltagernes nedskrevne beskrivelser, som danner udgangspunkt for en fænomenologisk inspireret analyse. Karakteristisk for fænomenet er, at det forbindes med en intentionel perception af egen-kroppen, som øger mulighederne for ændrede attituder i det levede samspil med børn og kollegaer. I et kropsfænomenologisk inspireret perspektiv diskuteres analysens fund, med henblik på at bidrage til en nuanceret forståelse af fænomenet, og hvordan det influerer på både børn og voksnes institutionsliv