Well, this is our last Blog post in PME 810....
This week we have been busy trying to connect "out in the world." I hope to hear from my community at some point, however, I have subscribed to the Healthy Debate newsletter and have participated in the Healthy Debate blog.
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Module 5 Journal Page Link
Here is the screen shot of my post and the link to to healthy debate webpage.
Eva's blog post on Healthy Debate-Scroll to the bottom to view my post
Allied Health Programs- Dental Hygiene Pharmacy Technician, Dental Assisting, Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physiotherapist Assistant, Pharmacy Assistant, Paramedics, Advanced Care Paramedics, Dental Office Admin...
Allied Health education is grounded in vocational education with prescribed learning outcomes that ensures consistency from programs within educational institutions. College programs prepare students to write their regulatory exams and/or certification exams and enter competently into practice. Vocational education must continue to move away from teacher focused curriculum to student centred curriculum that incorporates interconnected teaching approaches. Pragmatism and reconstructionism frameworks encourage and develop critical reflection and the attitude to continue to learn (Hill, 1994). Advocacy for patients, empathy, adaptability, and ethical decisions making are essential skills and values for health care professionals. Ongoing professional development and a commitment to life long learning are key aspects to health care education. Competency profiles and outcome based education are measures adopted by a health professions to better regulate itself in the context of patient safety (Anderson, 2012). Curriculum and assessments must align education to practice. Although we strive to graduate competent and confidence health professionals, it is tricky to define competence.
From a curriculum perspective, the development of competence in health programs depends on experiential learning. Experiential education is underpinned by theory of pragmatism where the role of the teacher is to facilitate learning and create an environment where experiences are valuable to the learner (Dewey, 1977). Eduction experiences that are valuable promote further learning. Health care is dependant on continuing education and commitment to ongoing development its healthcare professionals. Pragmatic educators believe in problem based learning and action based education but tend to be more concerned with the education rather than the training (Hill, 1994). The synthesis of knowledge and application of that knowledge to real world experiences in simulation or during practicum is critical for students in health programs. Experiential learning fosters the development of attitudes which according to Dewey (1974) are what really counts in the future. Reconstructionistic curriculum connects to the pragmatic approach and plays a significant part in experiential learning. Reconstructism takes pragmatism one step further by encouraging vocational education to be a change agent in society (Ozmon & Craver, 1986). Competence is based on questioning judgments, challenging assumptions and probing deeper, upholding legal and ethical responsibilities and demonstrate professionalism.
Allied health programs consist of diverse learners that include traditional and non-traditional students, international and domestic students, students that come with broad knowledge and experiences. It is up to the educator to draw from conceptions of curriculum learners that will develop individual knowledge, skills and attitudes of a health care professional but the only way to do that is to examine what competence really means, how do we teach it? How do we evaluate it?
References
Anderson, M. B. (2012). The question of competence: Reconsidering medical education in the twenty-first century. Cornell University Press.
Ozmoo, H. A., & Craver, S. M. (1986). Philosophical foundations of education (3rd ed.). OH: Merill
Publishing Company.
Hill, A. M. (1994). Perspectives on philosophical shifts in vocational education: From realism to pragmatism and reconstructionism. Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, 10(2), 37-45.
Hi Eva,
ReplyDeleteWell said! I've enjoyed reading your posts and relate to the challenges you present coming from the same practice context. I absolutely agree that before we propose adding extra semesters/terms to programs, we need to be thoughtful and use evaluative thinking to truly examine existing curriculum. Perhaps there's a better way to integrate and thread knowledge, skills, and attitudes throughout curriculum so learners are graduating with entry to practice competence.
Great Post!
Terra