We are supposed to know how to teach, and teach well. We are expected to be knowledgeable about what strategies help students learn. The current trend in education is to focus on outcomes. By teaching content X and Y and using methods A and B, we expect students to attain outcomes i, ii, and iii—the knowledge and skills the educational institution wants students to master by the time they complete a course or graduate.
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The truth is, we can plan on and account for our teaching of subject matter in a certain manner, but whether the actual outcome aligns with the intended outcome is not guaranteed. Humans are not computers. By tapping certain “keys,” we don’t always get output related to those keys.
By gauging test results and grading assignments, we can tell to a certain extent if we have “succeeded,” assuming, of course, the assignments are designed in such a way that they accurately reflect what the students should learn. I wonder if anybody ever questions the validity of these circular arguments. I am not saying that focusing on outcomes is not good, just that the usefulness of outcome-based education has to be put in perspective.
We teach, and we hope for the best. We know some students perform exceedingly well within the academic system while others barely get by, but academic performance is not the ultimate measure of whether a student turns out to a good nurse. I know, because a number of undergraduates I taught have returned to their alma mater to take a master’s program. Some who showed great promise as undergraduates return for another degree intent, it seems, on little else than earning another diploma, while others, some of whom drove me nuts when I supervised their clinical placement as undergraduates, return as delightful nurses motivated to learn more.
As teachers, we cannot know which words we say will strike a chord in which student. Such thoughts humble me as an educator. While they pain me at times, they also remind me that I need to be every bit as reflective as I expect my students to be.
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.
