Christy’s Reflections

There are many ways of learning available to us: formal, informal, transformative, self-directed. I will review formal learning but concentrate on transformative learning and the effect it has had on my life.
Formal learning occurs when you take learning as the truth by an authoritative figure such as a parent, teacher, or child care giver. This learning occurs consciously and unconsciously and is never questioned. It occurs most often in children.
Transformative learning (TL)is a learning process that produces change gradually or suddenly. It uses past experiences to learn new experiences. There is so much new knowledge that the use of mentors is helpful. Transformational learning can not be learned by yourself, you need other people to challenge you to learn. TL helps us to see distortions in our own beliefs, feelings and attitudes. Learning that constricts us is not transformational learning.
During my dental hygiene education we participated in a six week rotation. My rotation was at the VCU Hospital and entailed working with head and neck (H&N) cancer patients. This part of the rotation only took about 2 hours a day and required me to take data from the patients on their oral care. My supervisor worked out a program involving me with the process that the cancer patients went through. I was involved with the tumor board, tumor rounds, sat in on the H&N committee, and followed a patient through radiation therapy. The H&N committee was lead by the dental hygienist, my mentor Linda. The other members were the oncology physician, oncology nurse, pharmacist , physical therapist, and speech therapist. I was able to observe how the members interacted and how the dental hygienist lead the group. To fill my day I was allowed to work with teens that had many different types of cancer. I taught them oral care, nutrition and incorporated it with a bingo game that they appeared to enjoy. I was assigned home visits with a teenager who was treated for mouth cancer, which resulted in limited opening of her mouth. This turned out to be not only a dental education but a cultural enlightenment. These experiences open my eyes to my calling in the dental field. I wanted to be a hospital dental hygienist. It was stimulating to be in the environment and I had a quest for knowledge. I observed the medical student/residents being ask questions and they were not humiliated if they did not know the correct answer. The students were actually encouraged to think on their feet and to ask questions. This encouraged me to to ask questions and I began to develop a sense of confidence. My mentor guided me during this rotation helping me grow and to discover myself and reach my potential.
My experiences on the rotation gave me the opportunities to experience transformational learning. I had the opportunity to evaulate my opinions on race, gender and education levels. I realized I had the ability to analyze the problems or situations and reflect on solutions. In the end, I could self reflect and see that my views had changed on many topics and I could evaluate to see if I would of chosen to do anything different. This experience taught me to change the way I went about seeing and treating the patient. Fortunately, I believe the transformational learning has made me a better clinician today.

I enjoyed tonight’s class. The power point cleared up the confusion I had on the different epistemological lenses and brought insight to other theories that I could use to help explain my personal philosophy of practice. The discussion and debate on transformational learning was educational and sometimes entertaining. It was interesting to see many classmates express their opinions and frustration with this type of learning. I know I was trying to figure how transformational learning could be occurring when I was teaching in the clinical setting and thank heavens Ann ask that same question. It seems that this type of learning is instructional and this makes sense. Now I must put all this knowledge together and produce a paper.

It seems that mentoring is most successful if there is a trust between the mentor and learner and a safe environment is created. After much thought I finally realized that I did have a mentor at my work place. It was a dentist that was very knowledgeable in dentistry and medicine. He enjoyed teaching others what he knew and how the dentistry and medicine were interrelated. He was never critical. He tried to encourage you to stretch yourself to find the answer. I suppose he used a form of self-directed learning. We would discuss the topic, learn all we could and then learn how to apply it clinically. These sessions were educational and each one was remembered. As my knowledge grew, the dentist would randomly quiz me in front of the dental residents. As I gave him the correct answer, he would impress upon them that if the dental hygienist knew the answer then they had better know the answer. Today I use this knowledge in teaching the dental hygiene students. It makes me smile when they can impress the dental faculty with an answer that the dental students can’t answer.
I find myself in a position to be a mentor to dental hygiene students. I feel that there needs to be a connection between the mentor and the learner. If we do not get along then we are not going to make much progress. I think that each person needs to respect the other. I respect the student for trying to learn and putting in the effort to accomplish this. They should respect me for taking my time to facilitate personal develop, encourage them ,to help them make wise choices and to pass on knowledge. This is a give and take kind of relationship and I hope that is beneficial for the student.

First I would like to apologize for not writing in my blog. Since my throat surgery my mind has been a little difficult to focus. I have reread the material on self-directed learning and took a little time to reflect about the subject. It seems to me that self-directed learning occurs around us all the time in all age groups. Children use this type of learning while they are playing. They take paint and mix the colors together and discover that they can make new colors. They take molding clay and learn to create different shapes or animals out of it. While learning, they seem to be having fun.
In the adult arena, our experiences are a little different. We choose a skill, personal development, or seek to acquire some knowledge and this is brought about by our own effort. When we discussed this in class I had a difficult time thinking of something I had learned by self-directed learning. After hearing other classmates give their examples, the ideas came flooding in to my mind. I learned to install a door bell just the other day and was quite proud of my self. My husband got a fishing hook caught in his hand late one night and we looked on the internet and learned a new way to remove the hook with minimal damage to the skin. The internet is an excellent tool for self-directed learning. You can also see self-directed learning in the classroom. The instructor giving the student room to explore different venues to research and learn the material needed for the class. For most students, this type of learning is beneficial and can be used in the classroom. My hope is that all students will benefit from this type of learning.

The first few weeks of this class involved addressing self directed learning, learning theories, and learning styles for the student. It has opened my eyes to realize that I must view each student as an individual and potentially adjust my teaching style to accomodate them. Last week we ventured to discover what teaching styles we actually practiced. The results from the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) revealed that my dominant style is Nurturing with a score of 38 followed by apprenticeship (36), transmission (35), developmental (35), and social reform (32). Although I was unaware that I had a particular teaching style before the TPI testing, I feel that the TPI was accurate in reflecting who I am. I am a Instructor who loves what she does and gives to the learners from my heart. Setting clear, achievable goals and explaining them to the students is important to me. I feel that if the learner understands what we are trying to accomplish then the learner can better develop a plan to accomplish these goals. If it is needed, I am willing to spend one on one time with a learner in order to help them accomplish proficiency in a clinical skill. I try to let the learner know I am there for support and provide opportunities for their success thus building up their self confidence and esteem. Providing a trusting and safe environment will encourage learning.
Apprenticeship was my second highest scoring teaching style. These instructors are highly skilled practitioners and are recognized for their expertise. Students respect these instructors and look up to them as role models. Instructors assess the learners current knowledge or skill level and determine where to start teaching. This will determine how much direction and guidance we give the learner. As the learner progress, the instructor can change their role and allow the learner less direction and give them more responsibility. As instructors we are there to step in if the learner should stumble and need assistance. Our goal is to make our learners educated independent workers.
I feel that you can combine the nurturing and apprenticeship teaching styles and get the best of both worlds. You get an instructor who has a heart for the students and is willing to have a relationship with the student. The instructor encouraged success and tries to provide an environment that allows that. While the apprenticeship style works on developing the quality skills that make you a success in the working world. I hope that I can fulfill these roles.