The contribution explores the centrality of the educational relationship within care-oriented contexts, with specific reference to the long-standing collaboration between the University of Florence and the university hospital “Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Meyer” (AOU Meyer). The analysis focuses on Hospital Schooling and Home Education as key pedagogical arrangements designed to ensure continuity of learning for children and adolescents living with conditions of vulnerability. The educational relationship – understood both as a sphere of professional competence and as the foundational core of any formative process – is examined through its relational, emotional, and empathic dimensions. Integrating pedagogical, psychological, and neuroscientific perspectives, the chapter underscores the relevance of mentalisation and empathy in fostering the development of the educational bond, which becomes especially critical in situations marked by fragility. Personal narratives, memory, and emotions emerge as essential elements in processes of identity construction and in the enactment of educational care. Education is framed as a profoundly relational practice that demands awareness, responsibility, and reflexivity on the part of adults – parents, teachers, pedagogues, and care professionals – who accompany children throughout their learning pathways and well-being trajectories. The essay thus offers an ecosystemic perspective on educational care, providing theoretical and operational tools for understanding and supporting formative relationships within hospital-based educational contexts.
University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-6502-2484
Chapter Title
Costruire relazioni. Il ruolo della cura educativa. Per introdurre
Authors
Vanna Boffo
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0943-4.02
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Formare professionisti dell’educazione, della scuola, della cura
Book Subtitle
La Scuola in Ospedale e l’Istruzione Domiciliare
Editors
Vanna Boffo
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
208
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0943-4
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0942-7
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0943-4
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0944-1
Series Title
Studies on Adult Learning and Education
Series ISSN
2704-596X
Series E-ISSN
2704-5781