The experience of sessional teachers in nursing


This study by Dixon et al (2015) describes the findings of a qualitative study to explore their experience with an undergraduate nursing program.  The growth in employment of sessional teachers within Australian universities is widespread. This casualisation creates the need to understand the experience of sessional teachers which will enable appropriate support; address continuing professional development and career progression.  Fifteen sessional teachers undertook a semi-structured interview that took an average of 30 minutes. The process of analysis is described by the authors. Six main themes emerged from the data.  These were: 1) overall experience; 2) belongingness; 3) things that help; 4) things that hinder; 5) strengths I bring; and 6) support needed.

Participants overall, found sessional teaching to be a positive and rewarding one. They did, however, indicate the transient nature of their employment limited their feelings of belongingness. Lack of physical space including computer terminals or lockers and social spaces to interact with staff were identified as promoting the ‘guest’ status. Participants identified their experience and clinical currency as being useful in this nursing context. A lack of familiarity with university processes, communication and information about remuneration hindered their integration.  Additionally, failure to receive teaching material in a timely manner meant some of the teachers reduced their stress by preferring to teach later in the week as it gave them time to familiarise themselves with the material. Lack of computer literacy hindered performance.

Sessional teachers found their clinical experience provided them with knowledge to engage in meaningful discussions with students as they were able to draw on their experiences to facilitate teaching through ’narrative’. Participants also reinforced the need for and benefit of having reliable contact people and timely information. This study found that sessional teachers enjoyed and were enthusiastic about their teaching. They would like to be more included or have feelings of belonging within the teaching team including pathways to ongoing employment and professional development. The authors suggest that a workforce strategy to address some of these issues could ameliorate some of the impending workforce retention issues, promote high quality teaching and develop a career path for nurses intending to transition into academia.

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