This is how I teach
This month we spoke with Paul McLiesh, Senior Lecturer in the Adelaide Nursing School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. Paul has been a member of the Adelaide Education Academy since 2017 and recently joined the Adelaide College of Reviewers. Here Paul shares his insights about preparing our nursing students for the real world and what he likes most about teaching in the field of nursing.
How would you describe your approach to teaching/your teaching philosophy?
I suspect I should have a better answer to this question and be able to deliver a more succinct and defined framework of my approach to teaching. It’s likely rattling around the back of my brain and needs coaxing to come out here. I prefer to frame what I do, not so much as teaching but instead leading and participating in learning experiences. Every time I am with students, I learn along with them, about both discipline specific knowledge and skills, but also about how that learning activity could be better next time. Nursing is a practical profession that requires nurses to identify risk and patient needs and design and implement care that meets those needs. While practical in delivery, the recognition, design and implementation of that care is based on complex theoretical knowledge that is informed by experience and then translated into care delivery. I strive to make sure that students ‘get’ that concept and develop an ability to understand the purpose of how each learning experience they participate in can be used to drive their ability to deliver appropriate care effectively by responding to a range of clinical scenarios.
All too often in education we focus on the process of how to do something at the expense of the purpose, why are we doing this, what’s behind these skills, why are we practicing these skills in this way, could they be done differently?Paul McLiesh
Once students change their focus to developing an appreciation of the purpose of a learning experience, it equips them with an ability to manage a diverse range of challenging clinical scenarios in real life and drives a deeper level of internalised learning.
What do you like most about teaching in your discipline?
I love being involved in teaching activities across a range of disciplines with students from all levels of studies and programs. I worked alongside people from all healthcare professions during my time as a Registered Nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital for over 20 years. Being able to inspire students to develop knowledge and skills is important but developing an appreciation of how they fit within the team is also rewarding. Seeing students growing confidence in, and pride at, learning new skills or abilities to manage complex scenarios is truly inspiring. It is rewarding to know that the clinicians, patients and the community out in the real world will appreciate the abilities of the students during clinical placement and in their graduate positions as well-prepared healthcare professionals.
How does your teaching help prepare students for their future?
Instilling a sense of curiosity and passion in students is a key focus in any teaching activity I am involved in that energises the students’ motivation to increase their capability and motivation to be lifelong learners. Getting them to automatically approach any learning or clinical experience with, why is this happening, what’s causing this to occur, how could this be better - is the best way for them to create that internal drive for a sense of lifelong learning. Learning must be genuine, it must be contextualised to the real world and it must be supported and strengthened by exposure to high quality clinical experience. Clinical placement is where that contextualisation and application of knowledge is cultivated.
What is your favourite way to use technology to enhance learning?
There is a risk that technology in education becomes the tail wagging the dog. While technology is not a panacea, it has the potential to create incredible learning opportunities. Teaching must be primarily driven by the learning needs of the students first, then technology that assists in meeting those needs can be used to strengthen that learning experience. Situations in the real world that are infrequent, difficult to access, dangerous or remote can be replicated by a combination of technology and simulation-based activities. This allows students to be exposed to those scenarios, in a way that can be replicated in a safe environment. Technology allows students to reflect on their response to, and behaviour in that scenario to refine their practice- something that we often don’t get a chance to do in the real world. An example of technology I have used is virtual reality or immersive 360 degree video that exposes students to an unfamiliar, and maybe confronting environment such as the operating room so that they develop a level of comfort working within that environment once they get there in the real world.