ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author provides an introduction to relational theory and practice, as an application of inquiry-based learning and teaching. She offers an introduction to relational theory and practice, as an application of inquiry-based learning and teaching. She examines reflections on the experiences to consider what relational thinking might offer to inquiry practice. The relational perspective offers, in her view, a conceptual framework that can present an effective container for inquiry in this context. On a deeper level, her interest in relational theory and practice stems from a need to work across boundaries, to hold together seemingly irreconcilable tensions in her own ontological stance as a feminist, and as a university-based management educator. Relational thinking offers a conceptual frame that can sustain individuals who seek to introduce inquiring relationships and to sustain vitality within organizational as well as educational contexts.