You're not to dance with the girls: oral history, changing perception and practice.
The learning disability nursing course at the University of Cumbria features people with a learning disability presenting an oral history of their past in a long-stay institution. These are powerful stories which frequently portray very negative life experiences. Student feedback suggests that the resulting learning is profound, possibly transformative and offering a different type of learning to a 'traditional' lesson. Students report that they experience different and more positive perceptions of people with a learning disability. They have a new respect for people who have survived these experiences. This change of perception may, in part, be due to observing people with a learning disability in positive roles such as storyteller, teacher and carer. The students reported that in subsequent placements their professional practice changed as a result of these insights. These changes include being more outspoken against bad practice and being able to listen more effectively.
Mee
Steve
S
University of Cumbria, Lancaster, UK. steve.mee@cumbria.ac.uk
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D002648:Child; D003615:Dancing / Q000523:psychology*; D004506:Education, Nursing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011287:Prejudice; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012919:Social Behavior; D012928:Social Desirability; D012931:Social Environment; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult