From Embodied Mediation to Capability Development: Reconceptualising Pedagogical Transformation in Higher Education A Seven-Year Longitudinal Study (2018-2025)

This study examines a pedagogical transformation conducted between 2018 and 2025 in a master's programme in educational sciences. Drawing on 131 reflective writings analysed through an inductive qualitative approach inspired by grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014), it explores the conditions that foster meaningful and empowering learning experiences. Three interrelated dimensions emerge: a trust-based pedagogical relationship, an enabling environment, and the development of capabilities. Findings show that transformation relies less on digital tools than on embodied mediation grounded in an ethic of care. The IREM heuristic model (Individuals, Resources, Environment, Mediation) is consequently enriched and reconceptualised, shifting from individual dispositions to a relational and situated conception of pedagogical mediation. This condensed version highlights the study's three core theoretical contributions: the empirical demonstration of interdependence between relational, environmental, and capability dimensions; the reconceptualisation of mediation as an embodied, care-based process; and the identification of structural transferability conditions.