A critical analysis of undergraduate students' cultural immersion experiences

Abstract

HARROWING J.N., GREGORY D.M., O'SULLIVAN P.S., LEE B. & DOOLITTLE L. (2012) A critical analysis of undergraduate students' cultural immersion experiences. International Nursing Review Purpose: This paper is concerned with the impact of an international health promotion experience on the understanding of culture among university students. Such immersion experiences are often cited as a strategy to prepare nurses for culturally appropriate practice. We describe students' epistemic movements over time with respect to cultural perspectives prior to, during and after a field study in Malawi. Design: Data were collected at three time points from students in undergraduate nursing (n = 14) and non‐nursing (n = 8) programs at a Canadian university. Two essays narrating participants' understanding of culture were submitted by consenting class members. A subgroup of nine participants (four nursing students, five from other disciplines) completed a third narrative following a subsequent field study course in Malawi. Method: Using narrative analysis, themes and structures in the participants' writing were identified and located within a constructivist or essentialist paradigm of cultural understanding. Findings: Overwhelmingly, students' narratives were initially portrayed and informed by an essentialist understanding of culture. Later narratives demonstrated varying degrees of epistemic movement towards more constructivist viewpoints. Narratives that initially exhibited constructivist characteristics tended to display strengthened convictions in that paradigm. Conclusion: We challenge the claim that an international immersion experience immediately transforms participants into cultural experts; our evidence suggests that students experienced existential growth, but their understanding of culture did not change as a result of their brief stay in a different cultural context. Cultural immersion is a phenomenon that requires more critical analysis and systematic investigation to determine how such experiences contribute to learning about culture among nursing students.

The predictors of cultural competence among new baccalaureate degree nursing graduates: Implications for nursing education

“…These findings impact nursing curriculum planning in including cultural immersion experiences in the curriculum, and are congruent with other findings in the literature. [11,[41][42][43][44][45][46][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] Given the importance of cultural immersion in promoting cultural competence among nursing students denoted in the literature, nursing faculty need to consider incorporating cultural immersion in the curriculum through strategic curriculum planning while remaining cognizant of available resources. Study abroad experiences are preferable, but require time, resources, and adequately prepared faculty facilitators.…”

“…Some studies that used this model showed its effectiveness in guiding teaching and learning methods, but there is a need for further research identifying predictors of cultural competence. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] Many approaches were noted in the literature related to cultural competence in the curriculum, and are summarized as follows: the need to critically evaluate implementation and evaluation methods of cultural concepts in the curriculum, [4,9,10,12,15,17,38,39] use of a stand-alone course on culture in the curriculum, [22,30] integration of cultural concepts throughout the curriculum, [12,13,40] use of service learning projects and cultural immersion projects to increase cultural competence, [11,12,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47] lack of qualified faculty members to teach cultural concepts, [23,48] need for course material to adapt to the changing learning needs of students, [45] and international collaboration among teaching institutions to teach cultural competence. [6,35,39,49] While the above note...…”

Nurses’ Perceptions of Their Cultural Competence in Caring for Diverse Patient Populations

“…Immersion experiences and study abroad experiences provide opportunities for students to learn about other cultures within the context of the culture resulting in improved cultural self-awareness and sensitivity (Charles et al, 2014;Harrowing, Gregory, O'Sullivan, Lee, & Doolittle, 2012).…”

Contested discourses and culture sensitivity: Norwegian nursing students' experience of clinical placement in Nicaragua

“…Nevertheless, there is an agreement that international placements can provide an important awakening, which can lead to further awareness about sociocultural differences. Several authors underscore that education about ethnicity, racism, sociopolitical perspectives and social determinants of health are crucial for students to make sense of their experiences (Alpers & Hanssen, ; Culley, ; Harrowing, Gregory, O'Sullivan, Lee, & Doolittle, ; Mkandawire‐Valhmu & Doering, ; Racine & Perron, ). Following up on the critique presented above, we argue that an awareness of the political and social context can be fostered and enhanced through various supportive educational interventions during the entire graduate educational process.…”