Professional Portfolio - Essay Example

Professional Portfolio This paper analyzes a testimonial of expression based on a philosophical framework of a personal approach to teaching as a career and the essence of the guidance in the practice. It lays emphasis to the realistic goals and objectives that have been apprehended when pursuing the career. A teacher is a person who creates a conducive environment for his students- that place where they can submerge themselves in a discipline as they incorporate a body of requisite information, concepts and skills.

Learning is an active process, which requires patience, dedication and confidence. Teaching nursing students involves teaching adults with grown minds hence confidence as a teacher gives student confidence. Good students enter into a learning process with the willingness and commitment to scoop what the teacher is offering them. Equally, good teachers provide an environment that is full of understanding, positive attitude as well as a demonstration of strong emotional feelings. They set goals and deadlines.

They have social skills as role models, strong emotional feelings that enable them to deal with difficult students.I am a dedicated nursing educator; I know that nursing is a sturdy job. This means that there must be infinite dedication on the side of the practitioners into changing the world. This great trait helps me to inspire students by demonstrating to them that, even with the many years in the profession the educator has not lost his spark hence dedication is more important than basic skills.

As a teacher, I incorporate my ‘student life’ in my profession. When I was a student, I learnt how to be patient and cooperative through the emphasis of my tutor. He would say that these traits were applicable during the nursing practice. The first incident that portrayed this involved an encounter with fire accident victims who required attention. With patience and cooperation with colleagues, I was able to defeat the fear and this has helped me through out my career. This gives student hope and a clear understanding of what to expect ahead.

As a mentor, I ensure that I focus on helping students to overcome the challenges that are found in the nursing profession to becoming successful nurses. These challenges include anxiety, discouragement, fear and failure by exhibiting patience to my self and the students especially during classes, to enable them apply that in their later life as nurses. A good example is relaxing by taking a deep breath when answering questions from students as well as discussions among other interactions. Such incidences teach students how to respond to irate patients and other challenging situations when practicing nursing.

I anticipate that students should take personal responsibility for their education, by setting goals of the learning process, which should act as a guideline of knowledge acquisition. This way the learner is able to create meaningful and logical representation of knowledge in the learning process. Though, these goals may serve as short term deals, the understanding of the discipline could be used in a long time measure later on in life especially in the actual practice. They should get directions from me on what is required of them hence, the need to be active and self regulating.

References: APA. (1997). Learner-Centered Psychological Principles. Retrieved On 27th June 2012 from: http://www.apa.org/ed/governance/bea/learner-centered.pdfBlumberg, P. (2008). Developing Learner-Centered Teaching: A Practical Guide for Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Ironside, P. Et Al,. (2005). Students Voices: Listening To Their Experiences in Practice Education. Journal of Nursing Education, 44 (2), 49–52.