A Case for Open Pedagogy in Nursing Education

Nurse Educ. 2024 Aug 5. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000001713. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Background: Open pedagogy increases access to equitable nursing education with its commitment to the scholarship of "teaching and learning" and critically framed, student-centered, relational, and open knowledge principles.

Purpose: This study examined the operation of and factors that nurture and challenge the practice of open pedagogy in an undergraduate digital distance nursing education program.

Methods: An exploratory qualitative methodology was used to examine linkages between open pedagogy and a nursing education program in an open digital distance Canadian university. A critical realist research paradigm provided the framework for the study.

Results: Our findings shed light on how open pedagogy is practiced in relation to its 5 principles and delve into the major themes of nurse educator agency, course design, and institutional structure.

Conclusions: The study addresses a dearth in the literature by exploring the potential of open pedagogy to increase access to meaningful and critically framed nursing education.