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Relationships Always Matter: Findings From A Phenomenological Research Inquiry, David Giles

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on findings from a hermeneutic phenomenological research inquiry which explored the nature of relational experiences in teacher education. Stories of the lived experience of relationships in an educational context were hermeneutically interpreted against the philosophical writings of Heidegger, Gadamer, Levinas, and Buber. The research found that relationships are essential to the experience of education whether they are recognised or not. While the relationship matters to the experience, the relationship lies out of sight and is largely taken for granted. On other occasions, the assumption that relationships matter is called into question. In these times, the relationship is …