Qualifying pedagogy: observations on a pedagogical encounter

ABSTRACT This paper introduces researchers and scholars to psychosocial qualitative methods when researching affective aspects of classroom pedagogy. It theorises affect as felt processes that defy representation circulating in teaching and learning. Turning to the psychoanalytic field of infant observation, the author outlines the immense potential of deeply qualifying the relational dynamics of pedagogy for the field of education. The paper offers a case of a child’s literacy to generate insight into the critical importance of documenting pedagogical interactions when teaching young children. The author finds that in-depth qualification of and on pedagogical encounter can instantiate a new course in pedagogical research, one that takes seriously what is unknown about learning taking place inside and between learners and teachers. Studying pedagogical encounters contributes new knowledge of the significance of the teaching relation in supporting children and students to learn.