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Teachers are returning to school to obtain graduate degrees in record numbers (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2003). Being a student makes teachers mindful of what it means to be a student. Teachers reflections on their experiences of "being a student again" offer many insights that reshape their teaching practice.
On Going Back to School
Overcoming Student Anxiety
Proenza, a nurse educator, entered doctoral education with a high degree of anxiety and discovered that some of the familiar things she had done as a teacher to reassure her own anxious students had little, if any, meaning for her as a student.
I waited until I could go to a nursing PhD program that would let me do research in nursing education. But I found that even though my GREs [Graduate Record Examination scores] were fine, and I always get good grades, I was really super anxious. I worried about failing out and embarrassing myself.. .and I also simply worried about being able to manage. I am going [to school] part time and teaching in an AD program full time, and I have two small kids.... I am a single parent.
Everyone in the doctoral program seemed nice to me, but the time between admission to the program and when classes started was very tense. I shared my feelings with my advisor and was told all the things I tell students... like, "You will do fine.... Take one day at a time. You have done well before...," you know, "Just ask for help if you need it. I am always here for you...," and that kind of thing. But none of it helped me! I started wondering, was this similarly unhelpful to my students too?...
Then one of the teachers sent me this e-mail welcoming me to the class, and it was like an e-mail from a friend. She said it was a "privilege" having me in the class with her and that she was excited about learning with me. This helped! I decided then and there to start my classes with an e-mail like this... some thing different than what I routinely do when I reassure people. This experience made me really appreciate how important little things are.... These small things we say and...