Relational competence: Towards a new culture of education

by Jesper Juul, Helle Jensen, Mathias Voelchert (Editor)

About this Conflicts, grueling power struggles with difficult children, and destructive behavior daily challenge both teachers and parents. The main cause for disobedience and lack of discipline is a deeper-seated relational conflict between adults and children. Children want to learn; and they want to cooperate - provided their personal integrity and individuality are acknowledged and maintained in a respectful manner. This requires truly true dialogues with children. Juul and Jensen emphasize the significance of relational competence as the core concept, changing the very nature of how we see education. They offer relevant alternatives to conventional education and solutions for difficult situations. They seek valid alternatives and give teachers the support that is so urgently needed.

327 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 20, 2017

About the author

Jesper Juul (1948 - 2019) was a Danish family therapist and author and a renowned international authority on the family. In his book Your Competent Child (1995, in English 2001) he argued that today's families are at an exciting crossroads because the destructive values — obedience, physical and emotional violence, and conformity — that governed traditional hierarchical families are being transformed.