On teaching elder care, more reflections

More often than not, a college teacher is someone who is older than his or her students. That means there is already a “generation gap” and that the values and life goals of teachers and students are likely to be different. When there is a common goal, i.e., for the students to achieve certain learning outcomes in elder care, conflicts seem inevitable.

How should a teacher respond to the behavior of those who are younger and less experienced in life? More specifically, how should I respond to those whose values are vastly different from mine?

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I find myself becoming upset when students come late to class and don’t seem bothered by it. I become upset when I see them chatting in class, oblivious to the noise they are making. I get upset when they look at their iPads all the time and don’t look at the PowerPoint presentation on the classroom screen. Often, there is hardly any eye contact. And, certainly, I am upset when the student to whom I direct a question appears unaware of what is going on.

Sometimes, these classroom behaviors make me sad; other times, angry. The way I, as an older person, see it, they have nothing to do with a generation gap. Punctuality and attentiveness are classroom etiquettes expected of a learner in an educational context. To me, they are matters of common courtesy.

In the eyes of the younger generation, however, it seems that such behaviors are no longer expected and that I need to lower my expectations. To get students to accept and open up to me, I must accept what I find inappropriate. Sadly, according to my colleagues, not confronting students about their actions appears to be the new norm.

Nowadays, as a gero teacher, I need to repeatedly remind myself not to impose what I value upon my students. I know we grew up in different worlds and that our experiences shape us. I need to tell myself that being angry or sad will not help me win over my students and that I need to accept who they are before trying to change their behavior.

To know the origins of my frustrations and to stop being frustrated (because frustration will not help my teaching), I need to reflect on my own behavior, attitudes, and beliefs. In addition to knowing my self and my own limits, I must remind myself that, before I can teach the younger generation in a way that speaks to them, I need to understand and accept them.

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.

Reflections on student learning

This semester I am teaching a course, “Nursing older people.” One of the assignments I have for my students is to write a reflective journal about any issue pertaining to elderly people and elder care, to be submitted at the end of the semester.

I thought it was an easy enough assignment but, to my surprise, my students do not think so. They tell me it is a burden to them. Quite a number of them say that they don’t know what to write about or how to write it. Again, this is a surprise, because these are third-year students, and reflective journals should not be new to them.

In response, I have modified the assignment with regard to it being a requirement, but have not removed it as part of the course assessment. To me, it is important when studying gerontology to cultivate sensitivity toward elder care issues. The best way to do that is not to write a paper or take a test, but to reflect, over time, on issues pertaining to elder care. Gradual sensitization to elder care issues through the writing of journals will help students develop awareness and insight about care of older people and, I hope, enable them to develop their own perspectives about the study of aging.

But this is not an age that encourages reflection. We humans like to fill our world with sounds. We are so uncomfortable with quiet moments that we try all means to drown our senses.
We need to be entertained every single moment. As soon as we arrive home or check into a hotel room, we turn on the radio or TV. We are defined by the latest electronic gadgets and games, by the PSP, iPhone, iPad and so on. We must have music constantly, whether it comes from an iPod or any other means. We can’t be bored.

We also can’t bear not being connected, even for brief moments. We have the Blackberry, 3G phones, WiFi, etc. Everywhere we go, we want immediate access to the Internet.

Because we are so busy entertaining ourselves, engaging in dialogue with people we know or don’t know, being reached and reaching out to othersand accessing information for all realms of our lives, the time that remains for reflection and recollection is very limited. Although Schön’s seminal article on reflective practice was published in 1987, more than two decades ago, fostering reflective practice nowadays runs counter to modern techno currents—not a very promising battle.

Personally, I need a lot of time to myself. I like people, but I also like solitude. Getting together is good to foster relationships, but getting close to myself and knowing how I feel and think is crucial to living a life that is meaningful to me.

I hope my students become, through repeated learning opportunities, better reflective practitioners.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.