Curriculum revolution : transformation or cultural invasion?
Date
1998
Authors
Scobie, Carol Anne
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to present an analysis of diploma nurses' present experience in an innovative baccalaureate nursing program at the University of Victoria, in light of their past experiences in hospital diploma training schools. The innovative curriculum, based on principles of critical pedagogy, hoped to support a perspective transformation about nursing among the diploma nurses through a "bridge-in" semester. The use of a critical pedagogy in nursing education was such a departure from traditional educational theories that it was coined the "curriculum revolution."
The central question guiding the research process was: How do returning diploma nurses describe their experiences in the bridge-in semester, given their past hospital diploma school experience?
Data were collected and transcribed using three sources: a demographic questionnaire, research interviews, and field observation. Six themes were constructed using a critical perspective. These were: Learning to be strong and silent, Swing of the pendulum, Bleeding for an A, Give me meat and potatoes, Crossing the language bridge, and caterpillars or butterflies? The challenges of engaging in critical pedagogy within the contexts of institutional structure is explored in the discussion.