HEDIR, for Health Educators

An Effective Skill for a Health Educator

The interesting aspect of preparing health educators is that there is a wide range of skills that need to be taught.  For those health educators who are going to be in the ‘teaching’ field (not necessarily just school health) is how to effectively teach a topic.  If one acknowledges that knowledge is a poor predictor at changing behavior/lifestyles, then one needs to focus a lot on attitudes and skills.  With that in mind, here is a simple point that I try to convey:

“The LESS the health educator talks, the MORE the student learns”.

I ask my students to think about this.  Why would I make such a claim?  It’s because in most instances effective instruction relies on input from students.  When that is coupled with the very nature of varying values/beliefs and practices associated with health, it’s absolutely critical that you allow students to feel comfortable sharing their  ideas and thoughts.  I’ve seen too many health educators who dominate every aspect of discussion that they don’t take into account the unique perspectives from their students (and when I mean students I run the gamut from elementary students to senior citizens).  The goal of the health educator should be to prep the students into a discussion as well as keeping them on task.

The best health education practitioner I’ve ever seen was one who could take 2-3 minutes setting the stage, then once the stage was set, peppered the class with questions and allowed them to dominate the discussion.  All she did was throw a few questions out for clarification…but she did very little talking after “setting the stage”.  Of course, she did take the last five minutes of the presentation (class) to summarize what was discussed…but she did very little talking.  She did this time after time.  How, one would ask, could she teach topics in any thoroughness?  She did…she figured out ways to get the class to do the work…but she didn’t ’spoon feed’ the students.  She allowed them to learn using well developed classroom strategies.

Anyway, welcome to the HEDIR Blog.  Feel free to comment, argue, challenge, or anything you so desire about this idea.

Kittleson 12/1/08

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lkolsen

I agree with Mark. There is a reason we were born with two ears and one mouth. It is amazing what we can learn if we truly “listen.”

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1 December 08 at 17:36

aversniknowak

I agree with Mark as well. While there are times when other teaching strategies are necessary, facilitating discussion is an important skill for health educators. In fact, it is a very complex skill that requires the ability to consistently assess the interactions, determine if and when to clarify concepts, and lead without dominating the discussion. Great post, Mark!

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1 December 08 at 20:30

kmccracken

I think this is a skill every health educator should learn and learn it well. In my last semester of school, the president of the university changed the way students learned and professors taught. It was based solely on this principle: discussion and student preparation. I learned and understood the topics better that semester. Students taught each other and the professor clarified.

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2 December 08 at 19:24

 

The Other Effective Skill: When More is More | The HEDIR Blog at 19:59 on 2 December 2008

[...] Kittleson wrote in his blog yesterday about the critical skill that “The LESS the health educator talks, the MORE the student [...]

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sbajracharya

How interesting and timely topic for me! Last semester when I taught epidemiology course, I had my students to come prepared to the class after reading certain chapter and related articles. In addition, I had discussion questions for each group which was organized beforehand. As an instructor, I got ready with additional points, leading questions, explanations..clarifications, and examples. I thought it was a great way to make the class alert and productive. However, it backfired on me. Some students thought they were peer teaching instead and thought as an instructor I did not do enough. They had to work too hard every class.

So, this semester I am planning to ask them which way they would like to learn….pure lecture or discussion and activities??? I am planning to give the ball in their hands so that they do not complain about the teaching style. I will see what happens ……as every semester is a leaning experience for me.

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3 December 08 at 11:20

slbrown

I have been trying to do this more in my classes. I find it’s easier with grad students than undergrads, but even with undergrads, I have some good days when I get to observe truly higher level thinking. I’ve been doing some reading lately in an effort to improve my teaching. I came across a book I really like that would suplport what Mark has written. Some of you may be interested; it’s titled “What the Best College Teachers Do.” The author, Ken Bain, bases the book on years of research defining, indentifying, surveying, observing, and interviewing highly effective teachers and their students. A few of the topics are:

- Knowledge is constructed, not received
- Mental models change slowly
- Questions are crucial
- Caring is crucial
- Motivating or Discouraging
- Taking a developmental view of learning

SB

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3 December 08 at 12:21

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