Integrating the creative arts into a midwifery curriculum: a teaching innovation report

Examining arts-based practice in midwifery education: An integrative review

AIMS

The aim of this integrative review is to synthesise the literature on creative teaching methods in midwifery education. The review question seeks to investigate the experiences of student midwives and midwifery educators of using creative methods as a learning approach.

BACKGROUND

The benefits of creative teaching methods are widely acknowledged but the ways in which this may impact midwifery students' learning processes, or how this relates to their developing professional development, is not well understood. Research focused specifically on student midwives is yet to be synthesised.

DESIGN

An integrative review was undertaken using data comparison with reflexive thematic analysis to identify common themes.

METHODS

Eight electronic databases were searched with key terms in June 2022. English language studies from qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods and wider literature were included.

RESULTS

Twenty-two texts were included in the synthesis. Four themes were generated from the data; 1) What is the offering - More than a lecture; exploring the educator and student exchange and environment for learning; 2) Working in parallel - examining the change in teaching dynamic and collaborative partnerships; 3) Journeying towards holism - focused on student's integration of learning processes; and 4) Stepping into the professional - engaging with how using creativity can aid students' growing sense of themselves as professionals. This highlights improvements in levels of confidence, professional development and emotional intelligence in midwifery students.

CONCLUSION

Creative teaching and learning methods enable student midwives to make meaningful connections between theoretical and practice learning environments, assisting knowledge and skills acquisition.

Crafting Meaning: Arts-informed Dietetics Education

Purpose: University nutrition students’ experiences of participation in an arts module as part of a senior nutrition course were explored to gain an understanding of the relationship of art to dietetics practice.

Methods: The module comprised discussions, readings, and presentations from dietitian artists, along with three assignments: the production of art, an artist statement, and a reflection paper. The art production depicting an aspect of body image was presented to the class and optionally at a body image conference. An exploratory, qualitative methodology informed by Schön’s reflective practice framework was employed. Three surveys administered at various times during the arts module were used to collect students’ reflections and were thematically analyzed.

Results: Three themes emerged: hesitance to acceptance, emotion and connection, and relationship with dietetics. The education process facilitated a transformation among students, noted as changes in knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes over the course of the module.

Conclusions: The arts provide an alternative platform for an exploration of self and others, for improving practice, and for an examination of novel ways for doing so. Reflection as an education component enables students to contemplate relationships, knowledge, emotions, and practice as interrelated and evolving entities.

The art of midwifery: can creative images of birth enhance holistic care?

Art related to birth stimulates debate, particularly if it is perceived to be taboo and challenging popular images of mother and child. Birth traditionally has been in a woman's sphere of experience, thus it has been left unexplored on a wider level. The Birth Rites Collection was originally developed to enable partnerships with artists and childbirth professionals. The other important reason for the Birth Rites project was to begin to make contemporary cutting edge art around childbirth because there has been a real lack of work which explores this subject. Student midwives have been able to engage with these and other artworks related to childbirth and now produce their own original art which is attracting acclaim. The Art of Midwifery student midwife project aims to promote more aesthetic and creative ways of learning to enhance midwifery students' self-awareness and thus promote holistic, woman-centred and sensitive care. Students have visited art exhibitions to interact with artworks related to curriculum themes and explore models and philosophies of birth. This paper reports some of their activities, summarises their responses and evaluates the collaboration.

Arts-Based Learning: Analysis of the Concept for Nursing Education

Teaching and learning strategies are needed to support learner-centered curricula, and prepare nurses who are capable of working in today’s challenging health care environments. Although the traditional lecture is still widely used in nursing education, innovative approaches are needed to encourage discussion, debate, and critical reflection, activities that support lifelong learning. Arts-based learning [ABL] is a creative strategy with the potential to engage learners, foster understanding of multiple perspectives, and simultaneously connect cognitive and affective domains of learning. Walker and Avant’s method of concept analysis is applied to examine the uses of ABL in the literature, define the attributes, distinguish the antecedents and consequences, identify model and other cases, and determine empirical referents of this concept. This analysis is presented to facilitate the conceptual understanding of ABL for use in research and nursing education.

My face, a window to communication: using creative design in learning

Creative art as part of assessment in nursing is a powerful alternative to traditional methods of promoting engagement for students who have different learning styles, and who value engagement in creative activities. This paper describes an innovative assessment approach for first year nursing students which addressed the development of a beginning knowledge base in therapeutic communication as well as critical thinking and writing skills. Each student was asked to design a wearable mask to display an abstract interpretation of the therapeutic communication skills required as a nursing student, followed by a discussion about therapeutic nursing communication. Results from an evaluation of the assessment are described using Bigg's (1995) structure of observed learning outcome (SOLO) taxonomy. Seventy percent of students (n=35) found the new assessment to be an effective learning strategy. As a creative exercise, 82% (n=41) found the assessment to have engaged them at a personal level. More effort is needed for innovative assessment strategies to promote student engagement. Use of a creative assessment approach that incorporates art creation shows much promise in bridging the gap from a superficial understanding of concepts to an understanding characterised by deeper learning.

Evaluation of a Pilot Arts and Health Module In a Graduate Community Nutrition Program

Several health disciplines have incorporated the arts into professional education programs; however, little work has been done in the field of dietetics. A pilot arts module was implemented as part of a graduate education program in community nutrition. The course instructor developed a structured, open-ended questionnaire, which was administered to participating students before the educational module. The same students completed a similar questionnaire at the end of the module. Responses were compared and analyzed thematically so that changes could be noted in perspectives on the arts and health upon module completion. Findings suggested that students' understanding of “art” and “science” changed during the module, that they recognized benefits of incorporating the arts into community nutrition practice, and that they could identify resources that would support their efforts to do so. The positive student responses to this pilot project support the further development of arts initiatives within dietetic education.

Culture and ageing: reflections on the arts and nursing

AIM; In this paper, we focus on ageing as an area in which nursing, society and the humanities can be profitably conjoined. We illustrate our argument with three case studies of ageing: in painting, opera and ballet.

BACKGROUND

There has been a recent spectacular increase in papers devoted to the relatively new field of the medical humanities. We argue for a similar renaissance in thinking about the connections between the arts and nursing.

DISCUSSION

First, we consider the paintings of J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) as examples of loss, ageing and death. Second, we draw upon Leos Janácek's opera 'The Makropulos Case' (1926) as a focus for debate about human mortality. Third, we review some ethnographic research on the balletic body as an example of cultures of youthful ageing.

CONCLUSION

A focus on the embodiment of vulnerability is a productive catalyst for research on the intimate connections between self and society, biology and culture, and reason and emotion. Such a research agenda would be the hallmark of a holistic approach to the arts and nursing.

Using the arts and humanities to support learning about loss, suffering and death

In this article, the benefits of using the arts and humanities as teaching and learning strategies are explored. Their contribution to undergraduate nursing curricula, as a means of promoting a deeper understanding of the experiences of loss, suffering and death, cannot be undervalued. They need to be present equally alongside the physical and social sciences in nursing curricula. More than ever, is the need for all undergraduate nursing students to participate in self-reflection of these experiences, in order that they may meet the needs of their patients and families adequately, in a range of healthcare settings.