Date of Submission
8-3-2021
Document Type
OIP
Degree
Doctor of Education
Department
Education
Keywords
nursing education, learner-centered teaching, culture, change, leadership, problem of practice
Abstract
The changing Canadian demography—resulting in an older population with increasing health issues—coupled with the ongoing pandemic, requires nursing programs to produce graduates ready to provide safe, competent nursing care. Learner-centered teaching (LCT) is an effective approach that facilitates deep learning and the emergence of a new meaning of knowledge. However, teacher centeredness in nursing education that emphasizes memorized knowledge versus higher-order thinking is still prevalent. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) aims to shift the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of the nursing faculty in an undergraduate nursing program in Ontario, Canada, from those of a more traditional lecturer role to those of a learning co-facilitator. The results of recent program exit surveys completed by graduating students support the need for such intervention, showing that the current teaching practice is misaligned with the philosophy of the nursing school and the program. The OIP is approached from an interpretivist paradigm and cultural lens, utilizing the shared, transformational, and adaptive leadership frameworks, all of which underscore the experiences of the teachers and learners as they co-construct reality, while emphasizing that multiple meanings may exist across individuals and groups. In alignment with these theoretical frames, the stages of the cycle-of-learning-and-change framework and the change path model were selected to implement change. Thus, these frameworks serve as guides for the detailed implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and communication plans. Future considerations include the expansion of the change project to other programs in the nursing school and the scientific evaluation of LCT in the nursing program.
Recommended Citation
Pere, K. (2021). Cultural Shift From a Teacher- to a Learner-Centered Teaching Environment in an Undergraduate Nursing Program. The Organizational Improvement Plan at Western University, 236. Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/oip/236