From nurse to teacher: recognizing a status passage

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the career trajectories of nurse teachers. The main focus of the study is the process of transition from nurse to teacher. The study looks at the anticipations, expectations, contrasts and changes encountered by nurse teachers when first embarking on the role. The interest lay in obtaining the teachers' view of their career trajectories and their experience of status transition. An ethnographic approach was adopted, and in-depth interviews were carried out with nurse teachers, to capture the breadth and depth of the teachers' experience. The teachers all volunteered to participate in the study, so are in no way statistically representative of their professional group. In analysing the data the mode of qualitative analysis called 'grounded theory' was modified and adopted. In this approach data collection, analysis and theory stand in reciprocal relationship to each other. The study operates at two levels. It relates to issues which appear to be meaningful only to the nurse education audience, but it also engages with the more anthropological concern of status passage. Finally, the results are discussed highlighting the many areas which were identified as causing concern and using the concept of 'identity' to offer an explanation for the 'troublesome-duality' experienced by nurse teachers.

Academic induction for professional educators: supporting the workplace learning of newly appointed lecturers in teacher and nurse education

“…The lecturers appear to find their transition to higher education confusing and challenging partly because of these tensions within their workplace over what a lecturer in teacher or nurse education should be. This confusion is in line with previous findings on lecturers in nursing (MacNeil, 1997;McArthur-Rouse, 2007).…”

“…This study found that 'lack of understanding about the functioning of the organization' was a considerable challenge for the new nurse educators and that they were unsure about their role. In a previous study (MacNeil, 1997), many of the interviewees had been lecturers in nursing for a 'considerable length of time' and the study identified a 'troublesome duality' which was seen to cause role ambiguity for the lecturers; they were trying to be a nursing practitioner as well as a lecturer.…”

Becoming a lecturer in nurse education: the work‐place learning of clinical experts as newcomers

“…This study found that 'lack of understanding about the functioning of the organization' was a considerable challenge for the new nurse educators and that they were unsure about their role. In a previous study (MacNeil, 1997), many of the interviewees had been lecturers in nursing for a 'considerable length of time' and the study identified 'lack of affirmation' as an element of the experience of the lecturers; they did not gain the same level of feedback from students as they had received in their practitioner roles from patients and their relatives. The study also identified a 'troublesome duality' which was seen to cause role ambiguity for the lecturers; they were trying to be a nursing practitioner as well as a lecturer.…”

Teaching conceptions of practitioner-lecturers in applied higher education institutions

“…Samal ajal võivad praktikud õpetamisel tajuda vastuolusid neile kõrg-koolide poolt ja kutsetöös esitatavate ootuste vahel (MacNeil, 1997;Smith & Boyd, 2012). Vastuolud võivad tekkida olukorras, kus kõrgkooli õppejõuna tööle asunud praktikutelt ei eeldata üksnes töökogemuse jagamist, vaid ka nt õpetamisoskusi ning eriti oskust teooriat ja praktikat seostada.…”

“…Vastuolusid võivad praktikud tunnetada, kui ootused neile kui õppe-jõududele on teised võrreldes ootustega kutsetöös (nt MacNeil, 1997;Smith & Boyd, 2012). Näiteks võivad praktikud-õppejõud tajuda vastuolu olukorras, kus kõrgkool ootab neilt õpetamisoskusi, praktikud ise aga lähtu-vad kogemuste jagamise vajadusest.…”