Developing Pedagogical Activities for Nursing Education Inspired by Freire’s Critical Perspective

Abstract

Nursing practice is part of a professional world where the medical, technological, social, cultural, and political fields intersect and requires from those who practise it, to develop skills in a vast field of expertise. Nursing education must be designed to prepare graduate students for nursing practice, notably by adopting a clear and coherent pedagogical orientation, as well as a common purpose for those involved in this teaching. In addition, the complexity of the professional world forces students to perfect their critical reasoning, to develop informed clinical action as well as praxis. This is essential to enable professional action consistent with the transforming clinical reality of the 21st century. The conceptual notions derived from Brazilian philosopher and educator Paolo Freire appear particularly relevant to guide nursing education and to enable students to design their own practice through this complexity. According to Freire, the objective of education is to develop the awareness of the thinking subject about the social world in which he evolves. Through a critical reflection on the conditions in which knowledge is mobilized, the student develops an awareness and an understanding of the relationships he has within the world. To our knowledge, few publications have operationalized these concepts through pedagogical activities in nursing education. The purpose of this article is to propose, through Freire’s perspective, a translation into action of the transformational learning process in the development of pedagogical activities as part of an undergraduate course in nursing. The concepts of interactions, contextualization, and critical reflection will be operationalized through five pedagogical activities in order to initiate students’ awareness of the social and professional world in which their nursing practice will evolve. A discussion will focus on the potential contribution of Freire’s work to foster the conceptual development of nursing undergraduate education programs and its implications for the academic and clinical practice.