“You what?!” – The impact of a relational approach to launching an executive MBA in the midst of a global pandemic

Abstract

In this paper, two educators offer their reflections on the impact of relational pedagogy in the form of an extended relational approach to the launch and delivery of an Executive MBA programme for post-experience learners in the midst of a universal experience of the global pandemic.

The pandemic exacerbated the increasing influence of consumerism on student identity and effectively destroyed any prospect of a “normal student experience” together with its perceived value. A relational approach extending theories of relational pedagogy beyond the relationship of the educator and the learner is offered as a counter to this, allowing the educators to mediate the relationships between the learner, the content and the learning process, and to navigate the additional interfaces of post-experience, online learning.

The paper emerged from collective reflection on practice and the findings support the contention that a relational approach addresses the more negative aspects of academic accountability when couched in terms of economic exchange. Envisioning education as a set of processes intended to enhance relationships, three themes are drawn out and are illustrated with examples from practice. These themes are digital residency, precarity and judgement, and weird intimacy.

The findings offer new perspectives and enable recommendations to enhance both online and present in person education and learning.