Pre-Service Special Educators’ Understandings of Relational Competence
- Resource Type
- article
- Authors
- Jonas Aspelin; Daniel Östlund; Anders Jönsson
- Source
- Frontiers in Education, Vol 6 (2021)
- Subject
- teacher-student relationship
relational competence
video-based intervention
special education teacher preparation
students with special educational needs
Education (General)
L7-991
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2504-284X
Research demonstrates that the teacher-student relationship is essential for students with special educational needs. This article investigates how pre-service special educators (n = 74) perceive teachers’ relational competence, as manifested in their relations with students exhibiting behavioral difficulties. The data comprises educators’ written analyses of teacher-student interactions simulated through digital video, both before and after being provided with explicit criteria on teachers’ relational competence. The findings reveal a change in the educators’ perceptions as they shift from a focus on teaching strategies and the learning environment toward an awareness of teacher-student interaction, and from the teacher’s management of problematic student behavior toward an acknowledgment of the communicative and socio-emotional challenges in contexts involving students with different needs.