Transforming Oppression in Nursing Education: Towards a Liberation Pedagogy

This work explores the history of oppression in nursing education and how this oppression serves to perpetuate hostility, mistrust, and rigidity in nursing programs. It looks at how oppressive behaviors are learned and transmitted in nursing programs. Transference of oppressive behaviors occurs as graduates enter the practice arena. This serves to further the gap between nursing education and practice. Examples of oppression in nursing have been included and are based upon the writer's impression of behaviors manifested among faculty, students, and practitioners, not through the systematic review of empirical data. These examples illustrate how oppressive behaviors and practices have served to fragment, disempower, and dehumanize the nursing profession. The writer's examination of her own experiences within nursing education and personal conscious raising is integrated into this work. Liberation pedagogy provided the philosophical and theoretical framework for the development of a model that would promote the humanization of nursing education and build community between nursing education and practice. Building upon this pedagogy, the Clinical Teaching Associate (CTA) model is described. This model has provided a conduit for a dialogue to occur among faculty, students, and practitioners that has led to the formation of new and successful alliances and partnerships between and among nursing education faculty, students, and practice that engenders collaboration, collegiality, and caring