Reflections
To me, integration is using information from a variety of sources to interpret a situation holistically. As a clinical nurse, I do this just about every minute I'm providing care. Nurses gather information and then connect pathophysiology to manifestations to interventions to outcomes. For example, knowing a child's airway is very small, pliable, and easily overwhelmed with secretions plus a positive culture for respiratory syncytial virus and a runny nose leads us to provide nasal suctioning to improve the child's oxygenation. With students, I emphasize how they have to find connections between the evidence (facts which are pathophysiology and manifestations) to formulate an impression (clinical judgement) which drives their interventions and outcomes.
Looking at integration from a wider lens, my professional preparation is in both early childhood development and nursing. I integrate these two disciplines to provide family centered care to children and families and teach students to do the same. I also combine the two disciplines to provide student centered care to students in the form of teaching and advising. As I continue to develop as an educator, I plan to be more explicit about the integration of knowledge and practice from other disciplines. Because of my training and experience, I feel I intuitively incorporate principles from the fields of social work, developmental disabilities, physical/occupation/speech therapies, biological sciences, medicine, nursing and pedagogical and andragogical education. However, I need to explicitly highlight integration of interdisciplinary knowledge so students can internalize the value of these connections. Additionally, I would like to develop professional relationships with those instructional departments to collaborate in all areas of scholarship. |
"Education is about more than making money and mastering technology, even in the twenty-first century. It's about making connections and mastering the complexities of the world. It's about seeing the world as it is and advancing the cause of human dignity. ~William Jefferson Clinton |
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