Learning to observe

I learn how to care for older people in practical ways by observing my mother. I notice how she can easily become tired—progressively so over the years. I see how she has become reliant on others for things she has been doing all her life without help—toileting hygiene, for instance. By watching her, I have come to see what her needs are. I also learn about caring for others by observing people in various circumstances. I take note if they are exhausted, annoyed, sad, or in pain.

As a teacher, how do I help my students value the power of observation, to notice the needs of others? Since we are in a helping profession, how do I teach development of observation skills to students who are engrossed in their own world most of the time?

How do we teach students to really "see" people?

I use public transport to go to work. In fact, I use public transport all the time. Because Hong Kong is such a compact city, I get around easily without a car. On trains and buses, people are engrossed with their smartphones, tablets, and what not, captivated with what these gadgets have to offer. Few people see an older man or woman board the train, much less offer him or her a seat. The same is true for those who are disabled, in the latter weeks of pregnancy, or carrying a baby. Few relinquish their seats, probably because most are busy playing video games, texting, watching movies, and so on. They attend to their own business, oblivious to the needs of those around them.

On those rare occasions when I do see someone offer his or her seat to another, I am sorry to say that, most of the time, the person who does so is middle-aged, not the age bracket of my students. What have we, as a society, done wrong? How do we teach our young—at home, school, in society at large—to care about others?

You will recall that I have made journaling an assignment for one of my courses. The exercise wasn’t as successful as I had hoped. Many students wrote “reflections” of what they had learned in a lecture—exactly what I asked them not to do. Despite including this assignment in my overall assessment of their performance, most students remained unobservant and unresponsive to what was happening around them with respect to elder care. Some did make excellent observations and reflections, but many did not.

My students are essentially good people. I know this when I hear them talk and get better acquainted with them as individuals. But I need to think of effective techniques to help my students “see” what is around them, not just “look” around and then go about their business.

I feel I am struggling against the current. Technological advances have changed our ways of relating to one another. As an educator, I love that technology helps me teach and engage my students in innovative ways. Yet, I am also watchful and wary of the impact that modern communications may have on how we interact with each other—whether we even “see” each other.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. Comments are moderated. Those that promote products or services will not be posted.