Relational competence in teacher education. Concept analysis and report from a pilot study

ABSTRACT

A supportive relationship between teachers and students has been shown to have positive effects on students’ performance and social development. Preservice teachers’ relational competence is, however, an unexplored area. The purpose of this study is to contribute to educational research about relational competence in teacher education by introducing a Swedish project which focuses on interpersonal aspects. The study has three parts. In the theoretical part, a conceptualization of teachers’ relational competence using Thomas Scheff’s theory of interpersonal relationships is outlined. In the empirical (pilot) part, a methodology for prompting preservice teachers’ analyses of teacher–student relationships is described, as well as a thematic analysis of their responses. The theoretical conceptualization is then used together with the empirical data in the third part, in order to identify development needs of preservice teachers in terms of relational competence. According to the conceptualization, relational competence includes three sub-concepts: communicative, differentiation, and socio-emotional competence. From the analysis of preservice students’ texts, the article identifies development needs in relation to the three sub-concepts. The concluding discussion focuses on lessons learned from the study regarding how to promote teacher students’ relational competence.

KEYWORDS:

• Teachers’ relational competence
• teacher education
• relational pedagogy
• teacher–student relationship
• Scheff

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. LÄRK stands for ‘lärarstudenters relationskompetens’, which when translated into English reads ‘preservice teachers’ relational competence’.

2. Micro-teaching means that preservice teachers conduct and record mini-lessons and then engage in conversation about what is happening in the videos.

3. The presentation of Scheff’s theory is partly based on Aspelin (1999, 2006).

4. Retzinger (1991, 30) writes that ‘the regulation of togetherness and separateness is a life force – an existential fact of life’.

5. Over-differentiation and under-differentiation are thus two forms of alienation, while adequate regulation of closeness and distance is considered to be an ideal situation in interpersonal communication.

6. Scheff is considered to be a pioneer in the area of research ‘the sociology of emotions’ (see, e.g. Kemper 1990).

7. Video three is based on a classroom episode in Ann-Louise Ljungblad’s (2016) doctoral dissertation.

8. All names are fictitious.

9. Concerning this point, please note that the questions, criteria, etc. distributed to the preservice teachers in the project did not focus on emotional aspects. We felt that such aspects require greater attention than the scope of this project allowed in order to become sufficiently meaningful. The development needs in question can, therefore, not be viewed as fundamental to the material in the same way as the other two aspects.

Additional information

Funding

The research presented has been funded by Kristianstad University, Sweden.

Notes on contributors

Jonas Aspelin

Jonas Aspelin is Professor of Education at Kristianstad University, Sweden. His research concerns relational perspectives on education, and he has written books as Klassrummets mikrovärld [The Microworld of the Classroom] (1999), Sociala relationer och pedagogiskt ansvar [Social Relationships and Educational Responsibility] (2010), and Inga prestationer utan relationer [No Achievements without Relationships] (2015).

Anders Jonsson

Anders Jonsson is Professor of Education at Kristianstad University, Sweden. His main research interest is in classroom assessment and feedback. Anders has performed a number of studies where digital video has been used to simulate professional situations.