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Content
Teaching and Learning in Nursing (2007) 2, 1
www.jtln.org
Editorial
Content Content—a seemingly innocuous word unless one works in nursing education! It is defined by the Oxford American Dictionary as bwhat is contained in somethingQ; for nursing educators, this bwhatQ is the nursing knowledge needed to practice competently. Defining exactly what knowledge the graduate needs to practice competently, however, confounds and overwhelms both faculty and students. Most educators agree that clinical judgment supported by a caring manner is the essence of nursing practice. What content supports the acquisition of clinical judgment though is a hotly debated topic. There is also a growing realization that it is no longer possible to deliver all of the content contained in even our most abbreviated textbooks. In addition, the primacy of learning content over questioning, interpreting, and evaluating is under critical discussion. In an effort to streamline content, nursing educators have become exceptionally creative. Some teach to the bdirty dozenQ—the 12 or 13 major pathologies that most patients exhibit, recognizing that 80% of all patients exhibit 20% of all disease processes. Others are requiring more and more program prerequisite courses, for example, biology, chemistry, or psychology. Many programs have bhiddenQ hours, such as assigning significant amounts of homework for clinical laboratory, whose 1:3 credit to clock time ratio should limit assignments. One of the most promising approaches to containing content creep is a pedagogical approach that decenters a focus on content. Narrative pedagogy bcalls outQ and practices thinking (Diekelmann & Diekelmann, in press). It values multiple perspectives and the creation of safe and respectful learning communities. Narrative pedagogy invites listening, reflecting, and interpreting narratives and collaborative story sharing from a number of viewpoints. bIt utilizes the collective wisdom of faculty and students, reduces content and creates time to thinkQ (Diekelmann & Diekelmann, in press). I recently evaluated a faculty member on a postpartum unit. As we passed through the unit, a nurse called my name. When I turned to greet her, she informed me that she had graduated 17 years ago. She confided that she didn’t remember much about care plans or research papers, but she remembered the stories and recounted the following vignette. A faculty member who was a master teacher was
teaching the importance of accurate and thorough assessments. The faculty member told how, during her first week as a graduate on the night shift, a patient put on her light at 2:00 a.m. and asked for an aspirin. As this was many decades ago, it required a call to the supervisor who called the attending physician. Feeling quite pleased with herself, the new graduate brought the aspirin to the patient who said bthank youQ and calmly dropped the aspirin into her vase of roses! Seventeen years later, this graduate I encountered reminded me of the power of story. Diekelmann invites us to explore the lessons learned in our stories. She identifies them as never-again stories that safeguard nursing practice and making-a-difference stories, such as the one above, that help students to remember essential concepts. In a recent conversation with a faculty member who practices narrative pedagogy, she emphasized the necessity of using this instructional approach to replace content and not to just reinforce it, as well to understand that it is coequal with content learning. She further elaborated on the need to summarize the important concepts that underpin our stories. When challenged by another faculty’s observation, bI already tell stories,Q she also commented on the importance of understanding the phenomenological construct on which narrative pedagogy is based, part of which is the danger of teachercentered strategies that can oppress and disempower students. Through the use of narrative pedagogy, faculty can help students better understand how a nurse thinks by revealing bcommon and shared meanings and understandings,Q while addressing the additive curriculum (Diekelmann & Diekelmann, in press). Narrative pedagogy affirms our commitment to the notion that expertise can reside in many individuals both inside and outside the nursing program and encourages students to engage in interpretative and reflective learning. Maris Lown MS, RN Editor
Reference Diekelmann, N., & Diekelmann, J. (in press). Schooling learning teaching: Toward a narrative pedagogy.
1557-3087/$ – see front matter D 2007 National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.teln.2006.11.001
www.jtln.org
Editorial
Content Content—a seemingly innocuous word unless one works in nursing education! It is defined by the Oxford American Dictionary as bwhat is contained in somethingQ; for nursing educators, this bwhatQ is the nursing knowledge needed to practice competently. Defining exactly what knowledge the graduate needs to practice competently, however, confounds and overwhelms both faculty and students. Most educators agree that clinical judgment supported by a caring manner is the essence of nursing practice. What content supports the acquisition of clinical judgment though is a hotly debated topic. There is also a growing realization that it is no longer possible to deliver all of the content contained in even our most abbreviated textbooks. In addition, the primacy of learning content over questioning, interpreting, and evaluating is under critical discussion. In an effort to streamline content, nursing educators have become exceptionally creative. Some teach to the bdirty dozenQ—the 12 or 13 major pathologies that most patients exhibit, recognizing that 80% of all patients exhibit 20% of all disease processes. Others are requiring more and more program prerequisite courses, for example, biology, chemistry, or psychology. Many programs have bhiddenQ hours, such as assigning significant amounts of homework for clinical laboratory, whose 1:3 credit to clock time ratio should limit assignments. One of the most promising approaches to containing content creep is a pedagogical approach that decenters a focus on content. Narrative pedagogy bcalls outQ and practices thinking (Diekelmann & Diekelmann, in press). It values multiple perspectives and the creation of safe and respectful learning communities. Narrative pedagogy invites listening, reflecting, and interpreting narratives and collaborative story sharing from a number of viewpoints. bIt utilizes the collective wisdom of faculty and students, reduces content and creates time to thinkQ (Diekelmann & Diekelmann, in press). I recently evaluated a faculty member on a postpartum unit. As we passed through the unit, a nurse called my name. When I turned to greet her, she informed me that she had graduated 17 years ago. She confided that she didn’t remember much about care plans or research papers, but she remembered the stories and recounted the following vignette. A faculty member who was a master teacher was
teaching the importance of accurate and thorough assessments. The faculty member told how, during her first week as a graduate on the night shift, a patient put on her light at 2:00 a.m. and asked for an aspirin. As this was many decades ago, it required a call to the supervisor who called the attending physician. Feeling quite pleased with herself, the new graduate brought the aspirin to the patient who said bthank youQ and calmly dropped the aspirin into her vase of roses! Seventeen years later, this graduate I encountered reminded me of the power of story. Diekelmann invites us to explore the lessons learned in our stories. She identifies them as never-again stories that safeguard nursing practice and making-a-difference stories, such as the one above, that help students to remember essential concepts. In a recent conversation with a faculty member who practices narrative pedagogy, she emphasized the necessity of using this instructional approach to replace content and not to just reinforce it, as well to understand that it is coequal with content learning. She further elaborated on the need to summarize the important concepts that underpin our stories. When challenged by another faculty’s observation, bI already tell stories,Q she also commented on the importance of understanding the phenomenological construct on which narrative pedagogy is based, part of which is the danger of teachercentered strategies that can oppress and disempower students. Through the use of narrative pedagogy, faculty can help students better understand how a nurse thinks by revealing bcommon and shared meanings and understandings,Q while addressing the additive curriculum (Diekelmann & Diekelmann, in press). Narrative pedagogy affirms our commitment to the notion that expertise can reside in many individuals both inside and outside the nursing program and encourages students to engage in interpretative and reflective learning. Maris Lown MS, RN Editor
Reference Diekelmann, N., & Diekelmann, J. (in press). Schooling learning teaching: Toward a narrative pedagogy.
1557-3087/$ – see front matter D 2007 National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.teln.2006.11.001