Learning and teaching care within the family: Experiential learning reflecting informal teaching

Abstract

The present study investigated how caregivers in Finland and the US recount learning and teaching care within the family, drawing on a new educational-psychological framework for care. This study applied thematic analysis to seven focus groups in the US and five focus groups in Finland composed of caregivers ( N = 45). The results suggest one main theme for learning, Imperfect Mirroring of Past Parenting and Present Parenting Practice, and two themes for teaching: Actions Tell More Than Words (US) and Teaching Them To be Independent and Caring Citizens (Finland). For learning, the findings indicate that childhood experiences are transformed into an informal guide for how care should (or should not) be practiced, highlighting how the lack of systematization in learning care contributes to caregivers’ need for self-teaching and unlearning what they experienced. In addition, caregivers tend to reproduce their learning experiences in teaching to care, and within this process, they focus more on pragmatic aspects of care. The various elements theorized in the Psychological Processes for Care Framework used, including identifying and anticipating others’ needs and deciding on the responsibility of addressing needs, were neglected in caregivers’ reports of teaching care. Implications argue in favor of psycho-educational programs for caregivers that can systematically address two pressing issues in learning-teaching care - the complexity involved in care processes and understanding the intersubjective nature of the construction of caring relationships.