The MSC Person-Centred Practice Framework Curriculum: Underpinning Philosophy and Model

Purpose:  This presentation will focus on the philosophy underpinning the new MSc Person-centred Practice Framework curriculum in the Division of Nursing at Queen Margaret University, Scotland, and on the curriculum model that was co-created by the team; it will also discuss issues around the role of curriculum in changing and transforming the present (Pinar 2012).

Methods: The curriculum underpinning philosophy builds around a blend of humanistic and constructivist theories (McCormack and McCance 2010, Schunk 2004). Three of the main strands of this philosophy are: the centrality of the concepts of ‘personhood’ (of the person/learner) and of ‘person-centredness’; the inter-relationship between person-centred teaching and learning (facilitation) and the development of person-centred practitioners (at Master Level); the development of practice (praxis). The continuum between ‘product’ and ‘process’ in designing the MSc Person-centred Practice curriculum will be also discussed. Emphasis will be placed on the process of identification of shared values and beliefs, in particular on the use of critical dialogues to develop a shared understanding of commonly used terms, locally and globally, in current policy documents (such as person and people centred care, child and family centred care) with a view at reaching shared definitions. The use of creative visual representations to capture and synthesise, first of all, the key concepts and principles in the form of a ‘ripple’ and then to embed these in a new curriculum model will be also presented.

Results:  The implementation process culminated in the co-creation of the innovative Hourglass Curriculum which highlights the collaborative nature of learning and of practice, and the dynamic and evolving nature of a curriculum grounded in practice and aimed at developing and improving practice, in collaboration with different stakeholders.

Conclusion:  Tentative conclusions will be put forward for consideration. The achievement of a consensus on the values and beliefs about the learning process is of paramount importance in curriculum development (Keating 2010). This initiative has provided impetus to engage in a dialogue within the division, to revise our undergraduate BSc Hons curriculum and other post-graduate pathways within the MSc Person-centred Framework.

REFERENCES

KEATING, S. 2010. Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing 2^nd ed New York: Springer Publishing Company.

McCORMACK, B. and McCANCE, T. 2010. Person-centred nursing: theory and practice Wiley-Blackwell.

PINAR, W.F. 2012 Subjective and social reconstruction. In: What is curriculum Theory? 2^nd ed. New Your: Routledge, pp. 207-238.

SCHUNK, D.H. 2004. Learning Theories: an educational perspective 4^th ed Upper Saddle River: NJ: Merrill and Prentice Hall