Cultural Diversity in Clinical Teaching

Question: Discuss about the case study for Cultural Diversity in Clinical Teaching. Answer: Cultural diversity in cultural teaching In the present context, as the geographical boundaries are getting irrelevant due to globalization and migration of people from one place to another, societies as well as various organizations are becoming culturally diverse. Therefore, it is important to understand unique requirements of people with different cultural and social backgrounds. In the similar context, nursing institutions are faced with the same challenges of devising strategies to impart the nursing knowledge through teaching. Teaching people with diverse cultural background in clinical context is a challenging task, as students are required to get practical experience and work in close association with other people to understand the concepts of nursing and healthcare practices (Shin et al., 2016). Students with culturally diverse backgrounds are taught in such a manner that allows them to understand the concepts of nursing in a simplistic fashion. In this regard, students are assigned in different groups to allow them discuss the minute details of concepts taught in the classroom settings. There are no fixed strategies that can be applied to students with culturally diverse backgrounds. Teachers often find it difficult while dealing with culturally diverse students as clinical students are mature individuals and may feel uncomfortable if they are presented with teaching situations that differentiates them from other students (O'Connor, 2014). The biggest challenge in applying different teaching strategies for teaching culturally diverse students is the fear of alienation from other students and unnecessary effort on the part of student to blend with other students. In this situation, the best strategy that teachers can adopt is to implement collaborative approach to clinical teaching. As per the various researches in teaching students in clinical context, the best approach is to allow students to learn through shared and self-directed learning. The role of teachers under this approach is to facilitate discussion rather than transmitting knowledge or well established facts. Teachers are required to encourage students to take part in active discussions and question the gained knowledge as per their understanding (Sue Sue, 2012). Students with diverse cultural background perform better if the teachers provide them with opportunities to conform (a sense of belongingness) to other students and develop healthy relationship. The collaborative approach to clinical teaching must include following four components 1. Establishing healthy relationship with students, 2. Diagnosing student ability to learn and problems faced in the learning process, 3. Using teaching strategies that allows students to engage with other students, and 4. Developing teaching scripts and personal philosophy (O'Connor, 2014). Students with culturally diverse backgrounds perform better if they are presented with an environment of mutual respect and understanding. Further, teachers are required to impart the knowledge of cultural competency to other students for better communication and imparting desired teaching to the students. The creation of positive learning environment goes long way in establishing mutual respect and learning experience. It allows students to shed initial inhibitions and encourages them to ask higher order and meaningful questions. On the other hand, teachers are required to provide students with meaningful and constructive feedbacks to help students to retrospect and engage in self-development. Therefore, it can be said that the best method that allows students with diverse cultural backgrounds in their clinical learning experience is respectful teacher-student relationships that also improves quality of clinical learning experiences (Jeffreys, 2015). References Jeffreys, M. R. (2015).Teaching cultural competence in nursing and health care: Inquiry, action, and innovation. Springer Publishing Company. O'Connor, A. B. (2014).Clinical Instruction Evaluation: A Teaching Resource. Jones Bartlett Publishers. Shin, C. N., Fine, J., Chen, A. C. C. (2016). Culturally Competent Nurse Educators in Clinical Teaching.Nursing Education Perspectives,37(4), 224-226. Sue, D. W., Sue, D. (2012).Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice. John Wiley Sons.