Introduction
The two key factors necessary for teaching in higher education for any educator are self-efficacy and teaching effectiveness. These two underpinnings are important, especially in the healthcare sector where competency in professionalism should never be compromised. As a nurse educator mandated with teaching and developing future nursing professionals, I am obliged to be effective in my teaching and adequately prepare the next generation of professionals in the field considering the ever-changing dynamics in healthcare and increasing demands on these professionals (World Health Organization,2020). This means that as a staff developer, one must continue to reflect on their teaching methods to match these dynamics.
Main body
Self-reflection is without a doubt an emerging strategy for enhancing one’s teaching abilities. However, according to Naicker and Van Rensburg (2018), self-reflection among nurse educators is not automatic and should be developed. Therefore, I will utilize self-reflective tools for nurse educators available in literature as guides for my self-reflection journey (Lubbe and Botha, 2020). This will be followed by continuous reflection, especially when new developments arise or gaps in the education curriculum are identified. Feedback on an ongoing basis will be obtained from both students at the end of the learning sessions. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I reflected on effective teaching methods in line with the conditional shifts that occurred. This enabled successful and effective teaching sessions whose outcome was remarkable as per student feedback. Another cause for self-reflection is constructive criticism. my reaction will always be accepting and use it as a source of improvement whenever necessary.
Conclusion
I believe that self-reflection is key to attaining self-efficacy for educators, which results in effective teaching for nursing students. As such, I will fully incorporate self-reflection as a tool for continuous improvement and participate in educator workshops and seminars. The latter helps educators to be aligned with current and effective teaching methods. Self-reflection, on the other hand, is a continuous practice for educators, as it ensures sustained professional development (Grech,2020). Therefore, it is evident that self-reflection is key to my professional development and attaining efficacy as a staff developer.
References
Grech, J. (2021). Critical self-reflection for nurse educators: Now more than ever! Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 16(1), 89-91. Web.
Lubbe, W., & Botha, C. S. (2020). The dimensions of reflective practice: a teacher educator’s andnurse educator’s perspective. Reflective Practice, 21(3), 287-300. Web.
World Health Organization. (2020). State of the World’s Nursing 2020: investing in education, jobs and leadership.