The pedagogical relation refers to special kind of personal relationship between adult

Adult

An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....

 and child

Child

Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...

 or adult or student

Student

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

 that is different from other personal relationships. The pedagogical relation is described by Hermann Nohl, Klaus Mollenhauer

Klaus Mollenhauer

Klaus Mollenhauer is one of the most important German pedagogical theorists of the post-war era. His work focused on questions of critical pedagogy and the cultural and historical nature of education and upbringing, and his final monograph, Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing, is...

, and others in the humanistic European pedagogical tradition. It has been discussed more recently in English by Max van Manen, Norm Friesen

Norm Friesen

Norm Friesen is Canada Research Chair in E-Learning Practices at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada....

 and Tone Saevi.

The pedagogical relation is marked by a number of characteristics:

1. In the pedagogical relation the adult is directed toward the child. The relation is asymmetrical, unlike many other personal relationships (e.g. friendship
   Friendship
   Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...
   
   ). The adult is "there" for the child in a way that the child is not "there" for the adult.
2. In the pedagogical relation the adult wants or intends what is good for the child's future. This relationship is oriented to what the child may become, but without being determined by adult plans or goals.
3. The pedagogical relation comes to an end. The child grows up and the asymmetry of the relation (if it is still maintained) dissolves. As Klaus Mollenhauer explains, "upbringing comes to an end when the child no longer needs to be "called" to self-activity, but instead has the wherewithal to educate himself."
4. In the pedagogical relation the adult is tactful. As Max van Manen and Jakob Muth explain, tact in this context often consists of holding back and waiting or maintaining a certain distance so that the child may act for him- or herself.