Supporting Faculty During Pedagogical Change Through Reflective Teaching Practice: Perceptions of Faculty Facilitators

The complexity of the current nursing education environment calls for transformation through the integration of contemporary pedagogies (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard & Day, 2010).  As new pedagogies are explored and implemented, it is critical that leaders in nursing education be reflective practitioners Shandomo, 2010).  Critical reflective teaching practice (RTP) allows faculty to transcend the routine matters of teaching and deconstruct teaching experiences in order to gain insight into the self as teacher, uncover underlying assumptions, biases and values and explore the effectiveness of teaching strategies and methods (Asselin & Fain, 2013; Larrivee & Cooper, 2006; Palmer, 2007). The ultimate goal of RTP is to gain insights to refine learning experiences (Corcoran, 2003), and become empowered decision makers and educational change agents (Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004; Shandomo,). Scholars note that reflection is a learned skill that requires practice.

Two senior faculty members served as facilitators of a RTP approach for several faculty implementing a semester-long flipped classroom pedagogy in an undergraduate medical-surgical course.  The RTP approach consisted of three levels of question cues, reflective journaling in either electronic or written formats, and facilitated reflection sessions drawn from the classic works in critical reflection and RTP by Kim et al. (2010), Larivee and Cooper (2006) and Palmer (2007). These strategies assisted the teaching faculty to critically examine their experiences utilizing a new pedagogy and to gain insights for improving teaching practice.

Facilitators noted that the RTP approach provided a framework to enhance collegiality and collaboration between faculty members.  Implementation of this structured support system increased an awareness of RTP and began a dialogue among faculty that extended beyond the faculty members directly involved in this project.

Based upon their experience as RTP facilitators, the senior faculty propose that facilitated group reflection may lead to a deeper level of reflection.  Facilitated group reflection may also help to move beyond the goal of improving individual teaching practice to include changes at an organizational level that would facilitate pedagogical excellence.  In terms of feasibility, administrative support may be needed to provide dedicated meeting time for group reflection on pedagogical change.

This project heightened awareness for the need for research studies exploring the utility of RTP in the nursing academic setting.  Specific research is needed to explore the benefits of individual RTP versus group reflection. Additional research is needed to evaluate the effect of both structured and unstructured RTP approaches on scholarly teaching and student outcomes.