Relational didactics

Our starting point, the didactic triangle, suggested that pedagogical situations can always be seen from a relational perspective. As with other theories of networks, systems, and so forth, this is basically done by putting the focus on the edges of the model instead of putting it on the nodes. Viewed in this light, any didactic model can be regarded as relational (cf. Lund, 2003). Yet the term relational is used in a number of specific theoretical efforts, from which the work of German adult education researcher Wiltrud Gieseke (2007) has been selected for the following section. Gieseke explores the idea of rela-tional didactics from an adult education point of view. Furthermore, she thor-oughly addresses the issue of emotions, which links her work to that of Illeris and others.

Keyword: Relation

A relation describes what lies between two entities, such as a learner and a learning matter. The two entities may change while the relation-ship remains the same. (If Paul is taller than Peter, for example, the re-lationship won’t change if Paul grows even taller.) However, a change in the relationship necessarily means a change in at least one of the participating entities (e.g. a physical change of position or a mental change of convictions). Thus relations often are good tools for observ-ing processes in which we expect changes to occur without knowobserv-ing exactly where they may occur.

Gieseke looks at different types of relations in educational situations. One is the relation between the learner and the learning matter; the other is the rela-tion between the learner and any kind of society that forms a frame around learning situations. (The former resembles the approach of phenomenogra-phy, because significant learning is seen as a process in which people change their views towards something.) The concept of relational didactics links both types of relations:

Everything a human being calls learning throughout his life – usually indicating a different perspective on things, a further insight, a new skill, a change or extension in the long run – relies on relationships that have been established or can be established. (Gieseke, 2007, p.

216, own translation)

When we look at the relation between the individual and the learning matter, we find that Gieseke aims to go beyond the theoretical and methodological boundaries that often characterise psychological approaches towards learn-ing, and the traditional philosophies of behaviourism and cognitivism in par-ticular. She states that, from a psychological point of view, learning does not deal with different constellations of teaching and learning in general, but with different levels of learning (ibid., p. 222). These levels are covered more or less separately by different learning theories. Behaviourism, for example, mainly deals with learning processes related to the first two or three levels in the abovementioned hierarchy (see Figure 4). And although even behavioural psychology may legitimately claim that its theories do not end when it comes to meaning, the pedagogical perspective assumed here provides a different picture. Therefore Gieseke concludes that, from a pedagogical point of view, the struggle between different theories of learning is only a pseudo problem, as they only describe different types of learning.

Within this line of thought, learning by an individual eventually is consi-dered to influence the whole person and, ultimately, society. Referring to the

German discussion, Gieseke contrasts her concept with that of Bildung (see also Chapter 7.1):

All participation in Bildung is an activity to change and to refine oneself. It has an impact on one’s general condition and the whole potential of activities and judgements which take effect in a society. (Gieseke, 2007, p. 37, own translation)

Consequently, learning is rooted both in the individual and in the interaction between an individual and others. The latter aspect may cover the whole range of others, from a single individual to the learning group and society as a whole. Therefore, learning may be defined as ‘a process of social exchange with more competent partners who enable us to reach new areas of develop-ment ...’ (Rehrl & Gruber, 2007, p. 246, own translation). This idea is quite in line with classical philosophy: Aristotle, for example, saw society as the most powerful educator (cf. Göhlich & Zirfas, 2007, p. 66), and medieval philoso-phers put it in similar terms (ibid., p. 71). It is at this point that Gieseke’s ap-proach puts a specific focus on emotions. She emphasises that emotions are not only relevant for individual learning (fear, for example, tends to impede the acquisition of complex information), but even more so for modelling so-cial interrelation in learning processes. ‘Relations are ... emotionally situated’

(Gieseke, 2007, p. 229); they provide ‘the bridge to other people, which enables communication’ (ibid., p. 15). Here, Gieseke argues against construc-tivism. In doing so, she is in good company: with the discovery of mirror neurons, recent research in neuroscience (the original provenance of con-structivist theory) has enriched our understanding of the epistemological processes that occur in human interaction (cf. Gallese, 2005; Gallese, Key-sers, & Rizzolatti, 2004; Pätzold, 2010a). Overall, Gieseke’s thoughts pro-vide a more comprehensive insight into the role of emotions in learning on the one hand, and the general idea of relations as a core analytical unit of learning processes on the other. Following this analytical perspective a bit further leads us to logical models that try to capture the phenomenon of learn-ing in all of its complexity while still givlearn-ing it a clear logical order.

Exercises and tasks

Exercise 1

Try to describe – in your own words – aspects of the relationship between phenomenography (variation theory) and phenomenology.

Exercise 2

Find examples from your own learning experience in which learning may be described as a change within a relationship.

Task 1

There are some good web resources to learn about phenomenography. At Phenomenology-Online, for example, you may start exploring some of the basic terms in the ‘inquiry’ section, which presents a variety of key terms such as ‘embodied knowledge’ or ‘vocatio’, as well as more general informa-tion on methods and procedures. After going through this material, you may want to revise your answers to Exercise 1.

http://www.phenomenologyonline.com

Task 2

The aforementioned article by Marton, Dall’Alba, and Beaty (see below) provides an insight into aspects of the research methodology of phenomeno-graphy. Read the article and discuss the opportunities and limitations of this research approach. Consider the complexity of learning and human develop-ment on the one hand, and the objective of generalising research results on the other.

Marton, F., Dall’Alba, G., & Beaty, E. (1993). Conceptions of learning. Interna-tional Journal of EducaInterna-tional Research, 19, 277–300.