Discere docendo - Learn through Teaching

Given that I didn't think I would be able to attend this tutorial - Sunday felt a little likke a bonus to me. After two months off over Xmas I was ready to get back into studying and get some motivation from the tutorial.

I gave Clare (the other trainee from Sheffield & Rotherham) a lift, which meant a different route through the Peak District, which is always a pleasure. It was nice to have company and a chance to talk things over with Clare. We are very similar in our outlook on things and we had a really interesting conversation about our mother's influence on having/feeding our babies. Clare's mother was present at her birth and it was really good to talk through how she found that and what the pros and cons were. It's a conversation that I am sure hasn't been concluded.

Karen had brought Charlotte, her 7 week old baby with her, so it was nice to coo over a little one. No Tatum though and no-one seems to be mentioning her. I am a little worried as to how she's doing but didn't get chance to ask Ann on her own if she'd heard from her. Jo was also not present and Ann said her attendance was worryingly low last year, which suprised me as I thought she'd mainly attended the tutorials, so I'm hoping she's OK too.

The icebreaker was fun! We had to tell everyone 2 things about ourselves which were true and one which was false and everyone had to try and guess which the lie was. No-one got mine which either means I'm a damned good liar, or my life is unbelievable.

My newsround left me feeling a little bad as Ann opened to me saying "and you have an essay to hand in don't you Lucy?" which of course I didn't. Having been ill over Xmas I have acheived very little aside from a bit of sorting out (which to be fair was all I had intended to do).

Next we had a Level I presentation from Sue on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This was a great presentation and was a really interesting topic. I was particulalry interested in the area of 'debriefing' which with my reflective essays coming up was incredibly relevant. I got some extra information from Sue and she told me afterwards that she has lots of information on this if I need it - which is great to bear in mind. Clare has also looked into debriefing and the work done on it and suprisingly there is little proven evidence to show it's sucess in resolving mental issues around birth. That said this is probably down to the problems in conducting trials. So lots to look into further there for my essay.

We had a brief discussion around presentations in general an particularly picked up on the Maternity Services presentation which gave me some ideas for what I could do.

A quick energiser pepped us up before some mini-presentations on 'difficult topics' which was continued from November's tutorial. First Kate did a peice on Ceasarean Birth. This was interesting and she gave out a good handout.

Next Clare did a fantastic teaching activity on breastfeeding, but she focussed on why women give up breastfeeding and what we as antenatal teachers can do to assist in prolonging breastfeeding in our classes.

We have some work to do before the next tutorial (22/2) on Labour. Which fits in great with the fact that I am on my 'Normal labour' obsteric day on Firday! Ann is going to send us some more information on what she wants from us on this - so I need to keep an eye on the e-group.

After lunch, Sarah did a mini presentation on Forceps delivery and again provided a great handout.

Next we were given a set of questions to look up the answers to. These were the questions given at the last pre-teachng workshop and Ann indicated how well or not they were answred by the group in attendance. This part of the tutorial prompted me that I want to start using Ann's question sheets to build up my knowledge of Obstetrics, which resulted in me picking up the three question sheets on Labour from Anns files to get answered by the next tutorial.

We had a discussion about resources and it was commonly agreed that the main sources of references came from Books and the Internet. This discussion reminded me how I am going to need to start referencing journals better if I am to obtain good grades so I definately need to start reading more of these and putting details in my references file. At the end of oour discussion we decided that we would send a copy of our libraries (what books/journals we have) to Kate so that she could compile them and add them to the e-group.

On the way home Clare and I had a long chat about our shared frustrations about the lack of accessibility of Ann as a tutor for 1-2-1 time. We concluded that it is our responsibility to make that time and I think that I need to arrange a 1-2-1 session (separate to the tutorial) with Ann at some point in the next couple of months to review where I am up to and talk through my assignments so far and plans for this year).

So actions from this tutorial:
- Claim expenses for Oct-Jan
- Find out more about Female birth partners
- Look into the benefits of 'Debriefing' birth etc.
- Look into Maternity Services presentation (plan visits/decide area to present on)
- Check e-group for work on Labour for next presentation
- Answer questions given at tutorial and 3 sheets on labour
- Read and reference 1 journal
- Provide details of my resources to Kate
- Arrange 1-2-1 session with Ann
Which have all been added to my to do list.

Today's antenatal class observation has thrown up a few interesting aspects to teaching that I hadn't really thoght about.

The class itself was mainly about 2nd Stage labour, covering the physiology, what they can expect and positions for dealing with it. The teacher used digarams to show the class what is happening physiologically and then talked to them about the contractions and how they are helping, how the baby moves through the pelvis (good old doll and pelvis demo) and the moulding of the head, crowning, the changes to the perineum etc.

There was advice about perineal massage, coping with crowning, issues around excrement and how to sex the baby (as it can sometimes be difficult!).

Positions was handled by giving the couples 2nd stage position diagrams on cards and asking them to discuss between themselves the relative merits or not that they had. Each couple then demonstrated thier position and commented to the group and the teacher facilitated lively debate about why or when you might use them and alternatives. The teacher made reference to slowing down/speeding up labour, opening the pelvis (she also used the hands through the legs exercise to demonstrate this) use of gravity, arms being up, pelvic tilting to illustrate this.

After the break some postnatal areas were explored. The group were split into male/feamle groups and given a sheet of flipchart paper on which the teacher had drawn a river with ten sharks in it. At one bank 'Birth' was written and the other '6 months' and the groups were asked to write the things which they anticipate being problematic in the sharks fins. Once complete the groups read back what they had written. The papers were then swapped and the teacher asked them to draw stepping stones and in them write things that they thought might help deal with thier partners worries.

The exercise saw some really useful discussion and some common ground between partners and the illustration provided some nice symbolism with teh sharks and stepping stones analogy.

For me personally, there was a tendancy to nod, smile knowingly, grin, grimace, shake my head when certain postnatal issues were discussed and even though I didn't say anything any of the delegates looking would have picked up on my body language. It is so hard when you have recently gone through some of these issues not to show this - so this is something I need to be aware of and conciously not do.

I was also shocked by a discussion around crying babies and how you deal with them. I am no liberal when it comes to childcare and would consider myself to be quite pragmatic in my approach, but most of the group seemed to be very comfortable that the correct way to deal with a crying baby was to first assess it from a distance before picking it up or seeing to it's needs! None of th group countered the discussions put forward which seemingly were unanimous in the view that you don't want the baby to get used to being picked up the minute it cries! I expected that some may have the 'Gina' view but not that everyone would be this way. I know that in reality 'a mothers instinct' will not let these six babies lie in thier cots screaming for long, but nevertheless I was shocked by what went on. The teacher's response to this was to play devil's advocate and challenge them as to why they thought that the baby would have any other motive than to communicate by screaming and gave them some food for thought. This left me reflecting on the fact that part of the teaching role is to prompt the delegates to start thinking about why they feel a certain way and whether or not it is correct - but without imparting my views! Not an easy thing to do. On talking it over with the teacher at the end of the class - she said that challenging was something she did in this intance as there was a lack of any other viewpoint coming forward. She added that it is something that she felt more comfortable to do now that she has more confidence and would not necesaarily have been something she would have done in the early days of teaching. One for me to mull over for certain.

Interesting to note that the couple who are not together seemed strained today (after appearing so together last week). There was reference to the mother being at the birth and they hardly spoke to one another. Both parties were very quiet in group work.

I am half way through observing my second set of antenatal classes. Today's class featured 1st stage labour positions and massage.

It was a really vibrant class - with lots of interactivity and the class are really starting to bond now.

1st atage positions was taught the usual way - cards with diagrams on, and the teacher getting them to take up those positions, the premise being that if you practice the positions you are much more likely to use them in labour. The teacher conducted the discussions in a very holistic manner asking the class when in first stage they might use the positions, bringing how tired or much in pain they may be. She incorporated discussion around what equipment you might have available and how this may differ if you are at home versus in hospital. She discussed with them how some of the positions might be used even if you are being monitored or induced, and the effect pain relief might have on positioning.

I really liked the holistic approach and might explore this more to see what areas I can come up with and how I might do something similar. I made a note in the margins about the possibility of doing the positions in time order, but in discussion with the teacher afterwards she explained that this would remove the ability to get the class to recognise when they might be used and wht might happen to them as labour progresses. She also mentioned that not everyone is comfortable with this exercise early on thus giving an order might make someone feel pressured. Felt the visual aids had seen better days but then she has been using them for 14 years!!! Might be worth putting together my visual aids for this topic now as it's always going to be used.

The massage session also included contraction demonstration. This was illustrated using the white noise tape and the teacher timed the length of time it was on. 1st time through the couples just listened, 2nd time, they massaged in position and sure enough nearly all percieved the latter set as being shorter even though it was longer. The 3rd set illusttrated the longest time of contraction that they could expect (90 seconds). During the end part of the massage session the teacher showed the class some basic strokes and explained a little about using oil and how this can be used. It would be useful to speak to my mum about masage/oils as she is an aromatherapist!!!

All in all a good session - some great ideas! The results of the homework (a mood board about thier perception of thier birth) was really interesting. One of the couples, who I thought had resigned themselves to a highly interventive birth actually announced they were toying with the idea of attending a local birth centre instead of the region's main hospital! Another couple (who are not together, although he does intend to attend the birth) were less positive about thier birth expectations (but possibly mre realistic!). But the nice thing was they seem to be getting closer eeach week that they attend. There was one done solely by the male of the couple - which was interesting! I can't believe that you can set the class homework and they would actually do it! and to a good standard as well. It was a real eye-opener.

Have been having an interesting conversation with Matt, my Husband, about the use of learning journals in a work environment. There is much reference to this in 'Learning Journals' by Jennifer Moon and some of the points she makes we have talked about.

Matt was saying that his team at times have difficulty in seeing the bigger picture and can get stuck in the detail a little. He also mentioned that they have some fantastic ideas, but without Matt's backing struggle to bring them into the workplace, and Matt has difficulty in finding the time to listen to thier ideas.

These are definately two areas where the concept of a learning jounral would be favourable. The process of keeping a journal, by it's very nature, forces you to take your time, which will assist in Matt placing more emphasis on journal writing/reading in his work. The team may find a journal helpful when working through things and once the detail has been addressed maybe they can take a step back from it.

We did discuss however, the issues around audience, who might be party to their writings and how that might affect what they write. We also spent time discussing the idea that there might need to be some guidance around writings about other people, and the company, so as to avoid any negative prose being made public via the Internet.

I've been reading more of my 'Learning Journal' book by Jennifer Moon (ought to probably practice my referencing here - but not today hey?).

I am particularly interested in the concepts of 'assimilation' and 'accomodation'. This is the suggestion that we don't learn by just taking in new information and piling it up on top of that we already know, rather we absorb new information by relating or linking it to things we already know and then cross referencing it. Also the fact that sometimes things we learn shift things we already knew, as it changes our ideas about the world. I love this concept as I don't feel as intelligent human beings that we just take information in on face value anymore - what about if we don't agree with it? or if it is the opposite of something else we've learnt? She talks about this too and indicates that learning in these cases can be quite painful and difficult and we will often look to discredit the source in these instances. She also talks about the fact that we sometimes just change our mind (my Husband would agree with that!) and that too is just an example of these processes. In this instance the learning isn't directed - it's very much owned by the learner.

I've had a great afternoon as far as the studying goes! [am studying Antenatal Education - with a view to becoming an Antenatal teacher with the NCT.] Which is good because I was feeling pretty fed up with life in general before then!

Have got myself organised as regards the libraries today and it's had a knock-on effect. I contacted Sheffield Hallam Uni and ended up down at thier Collegiate Learning Centre which is where my books are held. How handy is that? Just down the road, parking's a doddle, absolutely fabulous.

Took myself down there, SCONAL and Uni Card in hand, and the staff there took care of the rest. I now have a library card, a photocopying account, access to three of the midwfery journals and I know where the books are! A bonus was I found not only midwifery texts, but antenatal texts and books about learning and teaching too!

Have picked up three books relevent to my 2nd assignment 'Introduction to the Programme' Essay, and had chance to read 'Practising Midwife' and photocopy a couple of interesting articles as well.

I FEEL LIKE A STUDENT - YAY!!!!

One of the books, Learning Journal by Jennifer Moon, which is a recommended text is all about keeping a reflective diary. So far (I'm only 10 pages in) it's really interesting and I was so inspired that here I am with the first entry on my new blog!!! This is my reflective diary - it's just going to be online.

Only problem is it took me a while to settle on the title. 'Discere-docendo' is latin for 'learning through teaching' which I thought was apt. Plus no-one else will know what it means when they see the URL so I can look really intelligent when they ask - ha ha!

Here's to the fact that I have actually started my reflective diary - Cheers!