Medha Raval

Medha Raval’s Teaching Philosophy Statement

How do theories of adult learning and/or clinical education support your philosophy? Which ones? 

Teaching is more than a transfer of information. John Dewey emphasized that learning is a constant evolution that driving by life experiences and reflection. Adult learners are particularly goal driven. To build on Dewey's learning theory, Malcom Knowles emphasized that adult learners need to be able to apply the information to solve problems that are relevant to their own life experience. As life-long learners the classroom is a safe space to exchange all ideas with the teacher as a facilitator. It is imperative to the learning process that classroom content and discussions are not overly edited and subjected to censorship to facilitate life-long learning.

What gaps or challenges do you endeavor to be attentive to?

My philosophy is that everyone has a superpower.  This strength needs to be explored and nurtured to get the best performance out of all students and team members. In order to for this to happen, there has to be trust and psychological safety. I think creating a psychological safe space where everyone feels safe to express ideas and learn is a big challenge to teaching.  Gaps in experience, knowledge, and learning styles are important to try to address as I build coursework

How are considerations of culture, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging positioned in your teaching philosophy? 

Culture, diversity, equity and inclusion are all important to try to make learning materials relevant to the students.  This falls in line with most adult learning theories where content is meaningful when it resonates with experiences, beliefs, and values.  My commitment to creating a psychologically safe environment.

What are your big picture goals as they pertain to technology-enhanced education? To what extent do you want to or don't want to embrace technologic applications and advances in your teaching work? Why? 

Technology-enhanced education is unavoidable.  New and old generations use technology to perform everyday tasks.  Nursing education is no different.  This is challenging with bedside care because too much technology can take away from patient interaction.  Likewise, too much use of simulation labs instead of providing direct patient experiences might also hinder building bedside skills like therapeutic communication.  A mix of both technologies like introducing new bedside skills in a simulation lab for practice then clinicals with direct patient interaction would be an ideal combination. 

How do you envision continuing to learn and develop yourself as an educator (clinical, didactic, or formal presenter?

I hope to gain more experience building coursework and giving formal presentations.  While the Master’s in Nursing program offers excellent information on education, there is not much applicable hands-on experience. I hope to continue to develop journal entries and hope to get an article published one day.  While I am not a formal educator, I educate with my kids and at work every day.