Human encounters: The core of everyday care practice

Although there is increasing recognition within health and social care policy that relationships are central within ‘people work’, little attention is given to exploring the nature and purpose of these within everyday care practice. Social pedagogues appreciate that human relationships, in all their...

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Main Authors: sebastian monteux, Angelika Monteux
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UCL Press 2020-08-01
Series:International Journal of Social Pedagogy
Online Access:https://ucl.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ijsp.2020.v9.x.015
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spelling doaj-83748e4044fd48e2a4f4d747db2cc8f82020-12-16T09:48:05ZengUCL PressInternational Journal of Social Pedagogy2051-58042020-08-0110.14324/111.444.ijsp.2020.v9.x.015Human encounters: The core of everyday care practicesebastian monteuxAngelika MonteuxAlthough there is increasing recognition within health and social care policy that relationships are central within ‘people work’, little attention is given to exploring the nature and purpose of these within everyday care practice. Social pedagogues appreciate that human relationships, in all their complexity, are intrinsically valuable and, therefore, central to everyday care practice. This article explores human encounters as the foundation of relational practice, and we discuss how the space for true encounter incorporates spiritual care and a movement from dependence to interdependence. It proposes that everyday care practice is best understood as a series of human encounters that requires courage to embrace the complexity and uncertainty of encountering the essential humanity of those we care for. In order to do so, practitioners need to develop moral integrity, enabling them to navigate situations of care without fixed recipes. Drawing on perspectives from care ethics and the Nordic care tradition, this article contextualises the discussion within the authors’ extensive care practice experience and, in focusing on human encounters as the basis of relational care, presents implications for practitioners in diverse everyday care contexts.https://ucl.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ijsp.2020.v9.x.015
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author sebastian monteux
Angelika Monteux
spellingShingle sebastian monteux
Angelika Monteux
Human encounters: The core of everyday care practice
International Journal of Social Pedagogy
author_facet sebastian monteux
Angelika Monteux
author_sort sebastian monteux
title Human encounters: The core of everyday care practice
title_short Human encounters: The core of everyday care practice
title_full Human encounters: The core of everyday care practice
title_fullStr Human encounters: The core of everyday care practice
title_full_unstemmed Human encounters: The core of everyday care practice
title_sort human encounters: the core of everyday care practice
publisher UCL Press
series International Journal of Social Pedagogy
issn 2051-5804
publishDate 2020-08-01
description Although there is increasing recognition within health and social care policy that relationships are central within ‘people work’, little attention is given to exploring the nature and purpose of these within everyday care practice. Social pedagogues appreciate that human relationships, in all their complexity, are intrinsically valuable and, therefore, central to everyday care practice. This article explores human encounters as the foundation of relational practice, and we discuss how the space for true encounter incorporates spiritual care and a movement from dependence to interdependence. It proposes that everyday care practice is best understood as a series of human encounters that requires courage to embrace the complexity and uncertainty of encountering the essential humanity of those we care for. In order to do so, practitioners need to develop moral integrity, enabling them to navigate situations of care without fixed recipes. Drawing on perspectives from care ethics and the Nordic care tradition, this article contextualises the discussion within the authors’ extensive care practice experience and, in focusing on human encounters as the basis of relational care, presents implications for practitioners in diverse everyday care contexts.
url https://ucl.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ijsp.2020.v9.x.015
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