Innovation
Appreciative Enquiry in the Support of Emotionally Fluent Midwifery Practice.
We have used the 4-D Cycle Appreciative Inquiry – Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny approach (Cooperrider et al 2008), to provide a framework for us to reflect on key educational issues in midwifery, and enable us to explore ways in which we can prioritise the needs of the woman and her family. We have used the first two stages (discovery and dream) to establish what the issues are for us, in order to craft workshops that will meet the educational needs of our students. The workshops develop themes that have arisen in theory and practice throughout the curriculum, and provide an opportunity for reflective discussion. These activities are styled around the experiences of parents, students, midwives and supervisors of midwives; providing a synthesis of interactive media. The final two stages will enable the project to evolve within a structure that can be continually evaluated and has the potential to be transferable to other areas.
Reference
Cooperrider, D.L., Whitney, D., Stavros, J.M. (2008). Appreciative Inquiry Handbook. (2nd ed). Ohio: Crown Custom Publishing Inc.
What prompted innovation?
We felt that there was a need to create a synthesis between a supportive online learning environment and a face-to-face context when developing emotional acuity in students. We ‘discovered’ that the literature suggests students prefer human interaction to explore non-cognitive or emotional aspects of care, and that rather than abandoning technology in pedagogy in relation to this, melding the two can have benefits. We ‘dreamed’ about enhancing our current curriculum with a series of workshops that would respond to student led issues, the first of which has taken place and has been evaluated highly by the students involved.
What makes innovation different?
- The collaborative and iterative nature of the project.
- The fact that it is student led and responsive to what they identify as their own learning needs in relation to giving quality emotional support to women and their families; thereby giving the students autonomy in aspects of curricular development.
- The use of podcasts and women’s stories to highlight some of the issues.
- The involvement of women, their families, supervisors, mentors and the third sector in delivering the workshops.
Changes in practice
We hope that the students that are now in their first year will have enhanced skills in communication and emotional care support as a result of the project. Our vision is that this will continue to feed into the student experience as each year contributes to their own learning and that of the cohorts behind them.
Impact
The first workshop was evaluated extremely highly by the cohort involved.
Dissemination
Mcluckie, C., McHugh, N., (2013). Pandora’s Box: how to humanise educational technology to ensure an emotionally fluent midwifery programme – recognising the issues. MIDIRS Midwifery Digest, vol 23, no1, pp17-21.