Relational learning in practice

A showcase teaching practices in creating learning environments and experiences to build and sustain relationships with students.

There are several key questions that are helpful as we consider how we create the learning environments and experiences which will build and sustain these relationships. For example, how do different teaching approaches enable students to build connection with their discipline, with their teachers, with their peers, with place and with their evolving sense of themselves? How do the choices we make as educators contribute to the sense of belonging and meaning needed for student success?

Three students testing a car's electrical systems

How might staff support relational learning in their practice?

Suggested activities:

create opportunities for cohort building within or across programmes
encourage collaborative practices that maximise students’ opportunities to engage with and learn from their peers
develop learning environments where students and staff are relationally and actively engaged
support place-based learning with environments and communities and establish links with work contexts (where practical)
locate learning ‘in time’

Teachers might:

explore practical applications of mātauranga, kaupapa Māori pedagogies, and Te Tiriti in teaching
practice Indigenous pedagogies that centre Pacific values and knowledge systems, such as ako (which means both to learn and to teach) as a process that involves learning and reflecting,¹ where both the learner and teacher benefit from the sharing of knowledge²
provide opportunities for learners and teachers to dialogue about the learning experience
make use of quality blended learning designs that embrace connectivity and participation