course material

1. Teaching a Diverse Audience
Teaching a Diverse AudienceAs nurse educators, we may be tasked with facilitating learning
in a diverse population of learners. Perhaps they live in a socioeconomically deprived area
where the learner’s ethics, culture, and language differ dramatically from our own. What if
they are emotionally scarred or physically debilitated, and we need to reach them in a way
they can understand and that we can teach? What if the group has various cognitive
abilities, from barely functioning to possessing an advanced degree? It is up to the educator
to establish, promote, and nurture a safe and effective learning environment.What is the
purpose of the lecture? Are we trying to help young people develop the ability to make
informed and reasoned decisions for the public good, or are we teaching a diverse group
about their upcoming knee replacement and what to expect post-operatively? In one case,
we may be discussing sociology and, in another anatomy, all the while trying to grasp the
audience’s health literacy. To do this, we must employ a toolkit with a wide range of
practical and effective principles and instructional strategies. Good teaching is engaging,
relevant, and appealing to a wide range of learners and learning styles. A teacher must use
an assortment of ideas and concepts that empower students to be energetically engaged in
the process of their learning rather than passively receptive.As educators, we realize there
is no sure-fire magical technique. No single strategy, approach, or process works with all
students all the time. Therefore, we have to learn to ‘read the room,’ perhaps adjusting and
adapting tonality and direction as we go before everyone starts looking at their watch and
muttering amongst themselves. We must avoid discriminating or appearing to discriminate
against any racial, socioeconomic, religious, or cultural group. If we have hidden prejudices
that occasionally or regularly slip out, we need to seek sensitivity training or consider
another career. As many studies show, intelligence alone is not enough to learn. It is often
dogged determination. I had a doctor friend who once told me that he was not particularly
smart, but he read things repeatedly until he absorbed the lesson. He did this throughout
medical school and was one of the best, most socially balanced doctors I have ever met.
Failure to learn can stem from many causes, but the bottom line is that if the students are
not learning, the teacher needs to change their approach to teaching.Because of cultural
differences, will I, as a white heterosexual male, misinterpret another culture’s cognitive
approach, body language, verbal cues, speaking tone, or eye contact? What about their
gender identity or their age group? Different generations learn in different ways. If I could, I
would like to know what my audience consists of beforehand. Forewarned is forearmed.