Do Schools of Nursing Truly Value Excellence in Teaching? Actions Speak Louder Than Words.

Academic institutions exist for many purposes—preparing future leaders, challenging ideas and practices, generating new knowledge, and preparing individuals for careers, among others—but their primary purpose is to educate, facilitate learning, and promote personal and professional development. To accomplish these goals, learners need to be challenged to reflect on (and perhaps reconsider) their values and beliefs, struggle with the notion that there are often more questions than answers, judge the value of ideas and information they encounter, and engage in the hard work of thinking and learning. To help learners accomplish the goals noted above, educators need to have solid grounding in the science and art of teaching, knowing how to teach, as well as what to teach. However, at the postsecondary level, expectations related to the preparation of faculty as educators are rare. Indeed, it seems that what is required is an advanced degree and some level of expertise in one’s field, whether that be the history of World War II, art, languages, or nursing practice. If one were to examine the Web sites of many institutions of higher learning, one is likely to find mention of excellence in teaching, a focus on student learning and development, and the importance of the teacher–student relationship. However, when one looks for indications—at the institutional, national, or societal level— of what is done to achieve excellence in teaching, the findings are limited. Consider the following: