Editorial: Interactions and intersections in education: challenges and trends to foster learning and wellbeing

Taken together, the studies in this collection provide a comprehensive view of contemporary educational research. More importantly, they collectively point to a central claim that underpins this Research Topic: education is increasingly best understood as a relational and interactional system in which learning, wellbeing, and development emerge from dynamic interactions across multiple levels. Despite their methodological and contextual diversity, these contributions converge on a shared understanding that educational processes cannot be fully interpreted without considering the relationships that sustain and structure them.A central theme emerging from several studies is the relational foundation of autonomy and meaningful learning. Rivera-Gómez-Barris and El Homrani Maknuzi examine student autonomy in high-risk secondary education contexts in Spain and Chile, demonstrating that autonomy emerges through pedagogical interactions characterised by psychological support, trust, and recognition. Their findings emphasise the importance of relational and institutional environments in enabling students to develop agency, particularly in contexts marked by social vulnerability.Similarly, Xu et al. show that teaching strategies influence students' deep learning in online environments primarily through the mediating role of learning interaction. Their findings reinforce the view that interaction quality remains fundamental regardless of technological mediation, challenging deterministic assumptions about digital learning environments. In teacher development, Liu et al., in their dyadic study of coaching relationships, further demonstrate that novice teachers' professional growth is closely associated with relational factors such as autonomy support and coachees' psychological need satisfaction, highlighting the importance of mentoring and interpersonal dynamics in teacher education.Educational persistence and disengagement also emerge as relational phenomena. Medveckis et al. identify interactional and institutional predictors of early school leaving within the Teaching Through Interactions framework, emphasising the role of classroom emotional support, instructional support, and classroom organisation in shaping students' trajectories. Collectively, these findings highlight that autonomy, engagement, and persistence are not individual traits but relational outcomes shaped by educational contexts.Building on this relational perspective of learning and autonomy, a second key dimension emerging across the contributions concerns the role of emotional experience and wellbeing in education. Dreer-Goethe argues for "embracing variety" in conceptualising teacher wellbeing and shows how distinct wellbeing framings can support more meaningful professional experiences and interventions. From the student perspective, emotional processes are explored across diverse contexts. Galván Malagón et al. examine university students' emotions about learning disciplinary content through English as a medium of instruction (EMI), capturing the coexistence of motivation, anxiety, confidence, and identity-related challenges in multilingual learning environments.Methodological innovation for studying emotions is further advanced by Magrum et al., who use emoji-based measures to assess students' emotional responses to technologymediated human anatomy instruction, illustrating how affective engagement can be captured in technology-enhanced learning settings. In higher education wellbeing more broadly, Wilson Fadiji and Eloff highlight the close linkage between student wellbeing and academic support structures, showing how institutional provision and students' experiences of support shape engagement and psychosocial outcomes. Complementing these perspectives, Rojas-Ruiz et al. identify sex and cultural differences in coping strategies and wellbeing among university students, reinforcing the sociocultural determinants of emotional experience. Together, these contributions reinforce the view that wellbeing is not merely a secondary outcome but a foundational condition for effective learning, persistence, and development.If interactions shape learning and wellbeing, then technological mediation must be understood as a key layer through which these interactions are reconfigured. Technological mediation represents another critical dimension addressed in this Research Topic. Singh et al., through a bibliometric exploration of augmented reality in education, map the evolution of the field and highlight both its expanding applications and the challenges involved in evidence building and implementation. At the intersection of technology and wellbeing, Brodén et al. examine how to gather requirements for IoT-assisted wellbeing in elementary schools from a multi-stakeholder perspective, underlining that meaningful implementation depends on aligning technological design with educational realities and stakeholder needs.Digital learning is also examined in professional education contexts. Springinsfeld et al. explore online teaching in psychotherapy training, identifying challenges and adaptive strategies in a relationally intensive discipline where interaction quality is essential. In a complementary institutional lens, Dickson et al. demonstrate how ECHO virtual communities of practice can reduce educator isolation and strengthen professional learning through sustained, structured interaction across geographic and institutional boundaries. Collectively, these contributions emphasise that technology does not function as an autonomous driver of educational change but rather as a relational mediator whose impact depends on pedagogical design and social context.Extending this perspective further, several contributions highlight how educational interactions are embedded within broader sociocultural and institutional intersections. Barth et al. show how participation in non-formal education is associated with perceptions of 21st-century skills within a religious-collectivist community, illustrating the cultural embeddedness of educational meaning and the role of community norms in shaping skill valuation. At the university-society interface, Rodríguez-Gallego et al., through a systematic review, demonstrate how these designs connect academic learning with real-world contexts.Competency development is addressed explicitly by Khaled Gijón et al., who discuss processes for selecting and defining transversal competences in higher education training design, emphasising the importance of coherent frameworks that align curricula with employability and holistic development goals. Educational innovation beyond traditional classrooms is explored by Li et al., who examine museum game-based learning from a constructivist perspective, illustrating how informal learning environments can be deliberately designed to promote engagement and meaningmaking.Several contributions further highlight cultural, ethical, and developmental dimensions of education. Mosquera et al. analyse how socio-scientific issues can transform conceptions of sexuality teaching in the training of natural science teachers, foregrounding the role of education in ethical reflection and critical thinking in socially sensitive domains. In child-focused approaches that integrate body, narrative, and emotion, Aznar-Cebamanos et al. show how motor stories can support children's emotional health and the development of interests in science-related fields. Garai-Fodor and Huszák explore the potential of integrating conscious living into education for Generation Z, highlighting the educational relevance of self-awareness, responsibility, and holistic development in contemporary contexts. Finally, Dere and Akagündüz Eğrikılınç examine interventions with institutional caregivers aimed at supportive education for disadvantaged children (3C), underscoring the foundational role of relational support in fostering educational development for vulnerable groups.Methodologically, this Research Topic reflects remarkable diversity, including qualitative studies, quantitative analyses, mixed-method approaches, systematic reviews, and bibliometric analyses. This diversity reflects the complexity of educational phenomena and the need to integrate multiple methodological perspectives to achieve comprehensive understanding.At the same time, the contributions highlight important directions for future research. Longitudinal designs are needed to better understand how interactions and wellbeing evolve over time and how interventions sustain effects across educational transitions. Greater interdisciplinary integration will be essential to address complex educational challenges at the intersection of pedagogy, technology, psychology, and institutional policy. Ethical considerations related to technological mediation, emotional assessment, and data collection require sustained attention-particularly when working with vulnerable populations or deploying systems that capture affective or behavioural indicators.Most importantly, this Research Topic reinforces a systemic and relational understanding of education. Learning, wellbeing, autonomy, and development emerge from interactions between individuals and their environments. Educational innovation, therefore, cannot be reduced solely to technological implementation or methodological change; it must involve the transformation of relational, institutional, and cultural conditions that support human development.In conclusion, the contributions included in this Research Topic collectively demonstrate the richness and diversity of contemporary educational research. By examining education through the lens of interactions and intersections, these studies provide valuable insights into the relational, emotional, technological, and cultural dimensions of learning and development.Importantly, these findings suggest several priorities for future research and practice. First, there is a need to design educational environments that explicitly foster meaningful interactions across learners, educators, and technologies. Second, interdisciplinary approaches will be essential to address the complexity of educational challenges at the intersection of pedagogy, psychology, and digital innovation. Third, methodological developments-particularly longitudinal and mixed-method designs-are needed to better capture the dynamic nature of learning and wellbeing over time.Together, these contributions advance a view of education as a dynamic and evolving system shaped by human relationships, technological mediation, and sociocultural context. This perspective provides a strong foundation for future research and for the development of educational systems that promote not only academic achievement, but also wellbeing, inclusion, and human flourishing.