AUTHOR=Aspelin Jonas , Östlund Daniel , Jönsson Anders 

TITLE=Pre-Service Special Educators’ Understandings of Relational Competence

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Education

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.678793

DOI=10.3389/feduc.2021.678793

ISSN=2504-284X

ABSTRACT=<p>Research demonstrates that the teacher-student relationship is essential for students with special educational needs. This article investigates how pre-service special educators (<italic>n</italic> = 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.</p>