Nursing Education Concept of Diane M Billings
Who is Diane M.Billings
Dr.Billings has author of nine books on nursing education; two
of these received the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award.
In addition, she has written numerous book chapters and published over 50
articles on one education.
Her Story Introduction
Dr.Billings believes that a teacher should not have a goal of being in charge of the class room, rather she or he should aim to be a facilitator and enabler of student learning.
She
guides faculty to embrace the full faculty role in the academic setting by
developing new knowledge and disseminating evidence on the practice soft
teaching and learning.
Her Early Interest in Teaching
She does not know that she ever set out precisely to be a teacher. She was about a year into a staff nurse position in a public health department, and one of the faculty from Indiana University School of Nursing asked me to teach a post conference to her students She got started as a teacher.
Back then,a diploma school was a good environment to start a teaching career because it was a small program,there were a lot of experienced teachers, and the focus was on the student. Faculty was an integral part of the student's life at the same hospital and we knew what was going on there.
It was a nice, easy way to start teaching, and ever since she has loved it.This was in 1966. Shortly thereafter, the diploma program closed and became connected with the Purdue Associate Degree program, which, at that time, was an extension in Indiana pol is.
She taught at the Purdue program for about 3 months when there was a merger between Indiana University and Purdue University in Indianapolis. The question at that historical moment was what to do with nursing in the Indiana system?
Should we have a separate associate degree program located in the school of liberal arts or should the associate degree program in the School of Nursing, where the baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs resided?
Dean Emily Holmquist was able to unite all the
programs back into one school, and this is show She became
a faculty member at Indiana University School of Nursing .
Preparation for Teaching
Her early teaching probably involved repeating some of the things She saw her own teachers do. However, she could see immediately that I did not have enough background or preparation for teaching.
So 'She earned a master's degree in education from Butler University, because at the time, she was not aware of any nursing schools who were really preparing faculty, and the program at Butler prepared professionals for the teaching role.
She loved all of the courses and it all seemed so natural. She was able to apply the content of the courses that she was taking to the teaching that she was doing. Other preparation came from attending workshops, watching other faculty, and trying things out in a kind of trial-and-error way.
In her doctoral
program, she focused on education with a degree
in instructional technology, which she earned
in 1986. That educational preparation helped her from her current position as
Associate Dean of Teaching, Learning and Information Resources.
Soon after she went to Purdue, we were teaching an integrated curriculum, but all of the textbooks were written for the segregated curriculum.Lillian Stokes, Janet Barber, and she had the idea that we needed a better textbook for the integrated associated degree programs.
A major publisher quickly signed the three young faculties and that book lasted for four editions. From
this experience, she learned that writing
text books really is an other way of teaching, probably at a more
global level than classroom teaching .
Mentoring for Teaching
When she first started teaching, she was mentored by some experienced teachers and the Director of the Diploma Program. She thinks that she could see that she had potential and she went out of her way to keep tabs on what she was doing.
She could go in and talk to her and she would give me advice. Later on in her career, Angela McBride and Rebecca Markle were mentors. She can now reflect back and see that somebody said, "Let's ask Diane to do It." or, “Let's give her a chance to work on this project in this area.”
Mentoring is making opportunities available, or
making them happen. She think probably more of that went on than she is aware
of; where a teacher's life is touched by some body that is in the background as
mentor.
Evolution as a Teacher
She is always evolving as a teacher because the students have changed, and they are always trying to be responsive to their needs. Her teaching has also changed and evolved because of the learning resources that are available.
The best example here is the computer technology course that she has taught for 12 years. This one course has had major revisions each year because the technology that is discussed in the course has changed so much.
Her teaching has evolved because of her response to curricular changes
over the years and because of things that she learned as she integrate new ways
of being and doing into her teaching practices.
Feeling Comfortable As a Teacher
She doesn’t know that she is ever totally comfortable as a teacher.Comfortableness comes in peaks and in valleys. For example, when she moved from the associate degree program to the baccalaureate program, she was a novice teacher again.
You start all over and have to rethink the curriculum and the level of students. Each time you make a major change to another level, it takes a little while to get comfortable. One change that is happening to most educators now is moving from the traditional classroom to the online environment.
She believes
this change makes faculty uncomfortable because as experienced teachers
they end up being novices again. There are always changes. She think it is
this part that makes it fun, you do not get stagnant.
Challenges
a Teacher
She thinks the biggest challenge comes with being a creative faculty member within a structured organization .Introducing technology into the curriculum also created some challenges. Bringing people along was a challenge.
Her role at that time was not just to integrate
technology into her own teaching, but to try to help educators at her own
school and any one else who was interested and wanted to come along.
Embarrassing Teaching Moments
She cannot pull any thing funny or embarrassing out of her memory that
sticks with me. She is sure there were many, but no thing comes to mind .
Rewarding Aspects of Teaching
Teaching in an environment where the opportunity to move, change influence, and push the envelope is rewarding. The most rewarding period of her career has been the last 10 years because things have come together.
The evolution of a teacher takes time because there are many things that need to be developed and unfold over a period of time. Earning advanced degrees to support what you are doing kind of diverts some energy away from what you can do because you have to be focused on learning how to do it.
It all came together after she earned her doctoral degree and had the
opportunity to work in broader environments than in the classroom. However,
seeing people earn or do something that were believed to be impossible is the
most rewarding of all, and that aspect of teaching transcends all changes in
curriculum or technology.
Least Rewarding Aspects of Teaching
The least rewarding time in her career was when she was working in an environment where the organizational structure, the political structure, and the administrative structure were very rigid.
During some of these times, they were coming out of that diploma school teaching model , and note very one understood the faculty role in a university setting that was more than just the teaching.
The role included scholarship, service, and research. When the
environment did not support the full faculty role that for she was extremely
frustrating.
Maintaining Excellence as a Teacher
She goes to conferences. She work with other people and see how they are
doing things being revised.She like
to see how they work for the students and then revise accordingly.Feedback from
students is key to identifying what is working and what is not. She go out and
talk to people and get new ideas that she bring her teaching.
Advice for New Teachers
She thinks new teachers should be prepared for the role, listen to the students, and be student centered. She think a lot of faculties, old and new, still see themselves as being the one who is in charge and in control.
As we move into the f future, this is not going to be the faculty role. She would tell new teachers that they should not go down that path of trying to be in charge of a class room. Rather, they should be a facilitator and enabler of student learning.
They should try to understand that their role is broader than just teaching. New teachers should get involved and get focused in their teaching/learning practices, find what they like to do, and then do it well.Above all, be themselves, be true to their own values, and be real with students.
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