Pedagogy for nursing: challenging traditional theories

This chapter explores the question of pedagogy within nursing education and considers what is the most appropriate approach in the learning and teaching of nursing for nurse educators to adopt. It further argues that to date insufficient attention has not been paid to the varied and changing demographic profile of student nurses. Alongside this is the issue of prior teaching and learning experiences before accessing higher education and impacts of this on transitioning to professional learning and practice. There is a suggestion that demographics and experiences of contemporary pre-registration student nurses and qualified nurses accessing higher education for continuous professional development (CPD) are increasingly similar. In the UK, both continuous professional development (CPD) students and the pre-registration student can be characterized as non-traditional students aligning closely to reported under-represented groups in many respects. It is also argued that nursing lacks a predominant or explicit pedagogy. Given the broad and diverse student nurse and CPD nurse population, there appears no one specific pedagogical approach espoused which fits such differing purposes and needs and the question is ought there be one. This creates a challenge for nurse teachers and the craft of facilitating learning. Drawing on a study at one London university which explored the experience of transition to higher education by nursing and healthcare students, a proposed model of pedagogic–androgogic (P-A) continuum with a fluid approach is presented to meet nurse student needs. This model advocates once nursing students are exposed to a variety of learning experiences their evolving needs can be located on this continuum to reflect their life progression and development. This model for nurse education conceptualization is proposed to respond to the changing demographic profile of student and other nurses, their varied teaching and learning experiences prior to entering university and impact on their success in transition journey.