Who Cares About Fieldwork? A Person‐Centred Framework for a Compassionate Early‐Career Fieldwork Pedagogy

The concept of “fieldwork” has been subject to longstanding critique, particularly regarding unequal researcher–participant dynamics, and the extractive colonial legacies that shape knowledge produced in the “field.” Early‐career fieldworkers often operate within neoliberal, productivity‐driven norms that reproduce unequal researcher–participant dynamics in the field and leave little room for researcher care. This article proposes understanding fieldwork as an inherently relational, pedagogical process. We use person‐centred psychotherapy to advance a framework in which to understand fieldwork as a relational, pedagogical process. Building on vignettes from our experiences of ECR fieldwork, we outline three key pillars on which a compassionate fieldwork pedagogy can be built. These are (a) embedded institutional enablers that encourage care and compassion; (b) person‐centred care throughout the fieldwork process; and (c) researcher self‐awareness. We suggest that understanding fieldwork as a relational pedagogy, through core person‐centred psychotherapy principles, is an important first step in co‐creating compassionate fieldwork futures.