"Ask not what your students can learn, but what you can learn from your students." Corny, I know, but I like to pose this to myself at the beginning of each semester as I hurry to make sure the classroom environment is set for learning, syllabus thorough and student learning objectives clearly identified. I strongly believe in the newer approach to adult learning whereby I am not the "sage on a stage" but, rather, the "guide by the side," so I do not believe learning should flow only in one direction. Truly, today's nurse educator must blend the art and science of nursing with enthusiasm, caring and scientific pedagogy to help our students develop into the critical-thinking patient advocates necessary in today's complex healthcare delivery environment and this necessitates coming out from behind the podium. Nurse faculty face a daunting task as resources are increasingly limited while expectations and higher level learning outcomes are expected of the new graduates so old approaches must be abandoned.
The following editorial from The Journal of Nursing Education is a refreshing perspective on what it means to be a nurse educator and the importance of defining the teacher before defining the student.
The Scholarship of Teaching as Science and as Art
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