EDITORIAL

Degrees for nurse teachers Nurse teachers should have degrees, ‘though

not necessarily in teaching’ according to the

United Kingdom Central Council (UKCC

1987). One hopes, indeed, that those degrees

will be in nursing and at post-graduate level at

that-as Dr Scott Wright suggests in this issue.

Teachers should be experts in the subject

taught. Nursing in this sense is a wide field

drawing on basic, medical and social sciences;

it is practised in a variety of environments and

extends from health promotion to acute care,

from midwifery to care of the elderly. Nurse

teachers of the future therefore are likely to

have a first degree in nursing with the common

core programme and then to have specialised

in one of the four ‘branches’: nursing care of

the adult, the child, mentally handicapped

persons and in mental health.

‘Facilities provided for education and train-

ing should reflect the better standards in higher

education’ (UKCC 1987). One may question

what is meant by ‘better standards’. At best it

involves exploring the ‘frontiers of knowledge’

of research, learning to explore and to question

ideas, to accept that there may be more than

one view of an issue, and to support an argu-

ment with sound evidence. Students are re-

sponsible for their own learning and there is an

awareness that we are all learners - Iifelong

learners - together. Lecturers accept that at

times or in some areas of knowledge their

students will be ahead of them. A polytechnic

lecturer tells us that when marking an essay, ‘I

often ask myself “Well, could you have written

an answer like that?“; if not, up it goes into the

seventies’ (Burgoyne 1987).

The relative importance of teaching and

research roles are continually under discussion.

Universities are now more concerned than they

were about effectiveness of teaching and pro-

fessional development and appraisal; polytech-

nics who have emphasised the development of

teaching skills in the past are paying much

more attention to a wide range of staff develop-

ment activities, including research. It is essential

that nurse teachers in Britain continue to at-

tend a teacher training course in addition to

their academic and professional preparation? 1

think not. Some will want to specialise in

education and their contribution will continue

to be essential, but I doubt whether it is

feasible or advisable to make a teaching quali-

fication a condition for all professional teach-

ing. This is not to say that knowledge of

educational principles are not necessary; hut

the changing priorities and practice should be

recognised. We must accept that all nurses should have

some preparation in practical teaching skills;

nurse practitioners must be prepared to teach

both patients and students in the clinical

situation. ‘All those involved in teaching and

supporting students in practice settings should

be prepared for this role’ (UKCC 1987, p. 8).

So workshops and a variety of short courses

on educational topics are needed as part of

professional development. Some of these events

could well be planned on a multi-disciplinary

basis so that by the time a nurse is ready to

take up a teaching position she will have a

‘portfolio’ of achievements on which to base

recommendations for any further preparation

needed, either before or after taking up the

post. Nurse teachers will need to continue to

review their teaching effectiveness throughout

their career and maintain the balance between

teaching skills, scholarly work and continuing

professional practice. Teachers in higher educa-

tion find it difftcult to maintain these three in

some sort of balance. Where the main emphasis

is on teaching we may provide such a closely

structured educational experience that we may

stifle originality, creativity and enthusiasm in

our students (Burgoyne 1987).

References

Burgoyne J 1987 Time to please teacher and join the club. Times Higher Education Supplement May 29: 13

UKCC 1987 Project 2000. The Final Proposals. Project Paper 9 United Kingdom Central Council, London

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