HKU_Newsletter_Issue 39_0828

A sk F lorence Dear Tiger Mom, I can tell that you are a dedicated teacher who only wants the best for your students. You clearly prepare well and seek to motivate your students to succeed. I am not sure, though, that it is a good idea for tertiary level teachers to think of themselves as parents in relation to their students. After all, University students are adults and should be treated as adults. I think using adult learning principles is probably a sounder way to proceed in relation to students. This approach is problem- based and collaborative rather than didactic, and also emphasises greater equality between the teacher and learner. I guess you have read Amy Chua’s book and want your students to succeed like her daughters did. There has been some research on this type of “tiger” parenting which has been described as power assertive. The research found that supportive parenting had better outcomes for children. And for the teacher to be supportive is really the basis of adult learning principles as well. Adult students need to be treated as adults in a supportive environment. It is important to try and bring all of your students along with you, so perhaps if you modify your teaching style somewhat you may be able to encourage those stressed and dependent students to feel more relaxed and thereby be able to work more productively. Best wishes, Florence Dear Florence, I am a “Tiger Mom” kind of clinical teacher. I have high expectations with an agenda for students to achieve during practicum. I love my students and would like to help them to experience the Hong Kong style kind of busy ward environments as soon as possible. I hope my “TigerMom” style can help themto adjust asmuch as possible to avoid reality shock. I try to prevent being over-protective of my students and prepare them be more independent. I gave them orientation and practicum preparation materials prior practicum. I told them my expectation in advance in order for their psychological preparation. I have a good intention to help them mature. Personally I hope they know that this is the way I present my love to them. For the past few years most of the students have understood. They could feel my passionate interest in this career and take it as a good role model. A minority of them felt stressed and reluctant to take responsibility for being “independent”. I would like to seek your expert advice for motivation strategy among this group of students? How can I get a balance to avoid over “pushing” the students but also helping them growth confidently? Yours sincerely, Tiger Mom Ask Florence is a column in which students, clinical instructors and nursing teachers can write in with a problem or issue around clinical learning about which they would like advice from “Florence”, who is an experienced facilitator of student learning. We expect to receive queries about how to deal with student difficulties in clinical settings, how to give effective feedback to students, the strategies that are helpful for supporting unsafe students, and many other topics including those that students may raise. All questions will be dealt with anonymously. We will not publish your name or any details about you. If necessary we will modify questions slightly to ensure total anonymity. If you have a question for “Florence”, please send it to askflorence@hku.hk 6 Vision to L ead Mission to Serve