Philosophy of Teaching

A. Lee Baule

Once I become a nurse educator, my duty is to make sure that each of my students will

have the opportunity to learn, apply knowledge, and work with others. Their past grades from

other courses will not have an effect on my expectations for them. Each student will start off

with a clean slate and will be expected to meet the high expectations that are set for them.

Students who have low grades from previous classes have no bearing on how they will do in my

course and will not be treated any differently either. My students will learn that they can

accomplish their goals if they put fourth their best effort and collaborate with others. In the field

of nursing, having good communication with each other, cooperation, and sharing of ideas can

influence the well being of a patient. Competing with others does not provide a supportive

environment and may instead lead to some students feeling inferior or unmotivated.

The expectations I have for my students will be just as high as the expectations my

former teachers and professors had for me in my past. Even though I had a number of difficulties

in school, such as repeating second grade because I could not read, going to speech therapy

because I could not enunciate words correctly, and enrolled in a resource (special education)

class because I was a slow learner, my teachers never gave up on me. They kept on telling me to

try harder and, if I focused, I can learn anything despite my past grades and difficulties. In time, I

learned they were right. They continued to challenge me, seeing a potential I was blind to: strong

mathematics and science skills. Their encouragement led me to become more confident in my

work and more motivated. My professors did not lower their expectations, but kept raising the

bar. In time, I found myself remembering complex medical terminology, diagnosing patience

with parasitic infections, and solving advance statistical problems. Because of my professors and

teachers, I gained confidence, good grades, and became more motivated. I want to do the same

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for my students. I want to help them become successful and change the minds of those who have

low standards for themselves. I want to have a positive impact on all my students and have them

realize that they have the potential to be successful in anything they want to do, even if they

cannot currently see it. There is no failure, only learning from experience.

Besides studying to become a nurse educator, I previously studied psychology and

educational psychology, which taught me the many theories of how people learn and think. One

lesson I have learned is that learning is an on-going life process that does not stop. With that

said, I will continue to learn in order to become an effective nurse educator and help my students

get the most out of my class. I will learn from my students just like they learn from me. Many

students do not realize how much they can truly contribute to class. Their ideas can be so unique

that I would never have thought of them. Those ideas I can learn from and pass on to other

students and teachers, such as strategies for remembering the life cycle of malaria.

My students should expect from me to be fair and respectful. No student will be given

special privileges such as turning in homework late for full credit. Class rules will equally apply

to everyone so favoritism will not occur. My students will be evaluated fairly by using a pre-

made grading criteria or rubric that will be provided to my students so they can see how they will

be graded without any biases. I will also give them positive reinforcements, such as rewarding

their effort and good work with verbal praise or anonymously using their work as an example of

what a good assignment can possibly look like. This will further their motivation in their studies

and confidence.

I will encourage them to ask questions, seek out answers, and be active in learning by

applying what they have learned in class in order for them to completely understand the

information and know how to use it. For example, simply recalling CPR procedure will not be

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enough to save a life; they must know how to perform it as well. Being successful in retaining

knowledge and learning how to apply it will give them a sense of accomplishment and increase

their motivation (McKeachie et al, 2006). I will make sure that my students do succeed in class

by taking time to talk with them and get their input on how they feel they are doing

academically. Getting early feedback is the key to making sure that all my students are learning

in my class and, if not, find out what is not working and fix it. Nursing can be a challenging

program, not only academically, but emotionally as well. It can be emotionally draining.

Keeping an open line of communication is important in order to give them additional support

when they need it. I can achieve this by talking a different student before or after class every day,

and simply ask them how they are doing. Another way to accomplish this is to have students

form study groups. This will help them learn in a collaborative manner as well as serve as an

emotional support system for each other.

In conclusion, I hope that my students will grow to love learning as much as I do and that

they have the power to overcome adversity and obstacles such as the ones I faced in school

myself, and when situations become difficult, they will face that challenge and overcome it.

Finally, failure does not prevent one from learning. A student can develop new learning

strategies or note taking techniques that are effective. My nursing students will just need to put

effort into their work and have support from their teacher and classmates.