Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT
Narrative pedagogy is an interpretive approach to teaching and learning that is being used to foster educational reform. As it pertains to nursing education, narrative pedagogy is an approach to thinking about teaching and learning that evolves from the lived experiences of teachers, clinicians, and students. In this article, the author reviews the philosophical underpinnings of narrative pedagogy, provides examples of how narrative pedagogy can be used to rethink the teaching of nursing knowledge and practice, and discusses the strengths and limitations of narrative pedagogy as an alternative approach to teaching and learning.
Introduction
Teaching is more difficult than learning because what teaching calls for is this: to let learn. The real teacher, in fact, lets nothing else be learned than - learning . . . The teacher is ahead of his apprentices in this alone, that he has still far more to learn than they - he has to let them learn (Heidegger, 1968, p. 15).
The curriculum revolution in nursing (Allen, 1990; Diekelmann, 1988) has encouraged educational reform through the use of alternative pedagogies. One approach, recently proposed as an alternative to the predominant behavioral paradigm, is narrative pedagogy (Diekelmann, 1993). Narrative pedagogy is both an approach to teaching and learning and a way of thinking. In this paper, I will review the philosophical underpinnings of narrative pedagogy» provide examples of how narrative pedagogy can be used to rethink the teaching of nursing knowledge and practice, and highlight the potential strengths and limitations of this approach to nursing education.
Philosophical Underpinnings
Behavioral pedagogy (Tyler, 1949) is based on a single, mechanistic view of human behavior. Behavioral pedagogy is metaphorically compared to a machine in that it efficiently transmits knowledge from teacher to student. In contrast, narrative pedagogy embraces a number of different philosophical frameworks, including phenomenology, pragmatism, feminism, postmodern, and critical social theory. The choice or emphasis of these perspectives varies among those who use and write about narrative pedagogy.
Nancy Diekelmann, a leader in nursing education, is developing an alternative to behavioral pedagogy. Based on her earlier conceptualization of the curriculum as caring, dialogue, and practice (Diekelmann, 1990), Diekelmann is now developing narrative pedagogy (Diekelmann, 1993). Diekelmann's work is based on Heideggerian phenomenology. This philosophical view posits that humans are...