Article
Influence of subjectively lived peripartum experiences on competence 2 acquisition and learning success in midwifery studies
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Published: | February 7, 2024 |
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Background: Experience through one’s own pregnancies involves an apparent attribution of competencies and professional action. The significance of this issue for midwifery students is controversial and should therefore be addressed in the teaching-learning context.
Aim: The thesis investigates the influence of subjective experiences of midwifery students on their professional actions and, in deriving the results, deals with the teaching of competencies to heterogeneous students in teaching-learning settings. The goal of the work is to raise awareness of and reflection on subjective experiences. Teachers can use the findings for personality development, learning guidance, design of teaching-learning processes and theory-practice transfer.
Methodology: To answer the research question, a qualitative content analysis of guided interviews with students and teachers has been conducted. Previously, missing statistical data on subjective experiences in connection with pregnancy, birth, postpartum and breastfeeding of midwifery students in Germany were collected.
Results: Midwifery students with subjective experience of their own pregnancies, births, postpartum beds, or breastfeeding experience a more efficient change in perspective. Reflective exercises enable non-experienced students to engage in theory-practice transfer. Independent of one’s own experience, professional development leads to further qualification of all required competencies through phenomenological and subject-oriented experience. Subjective experiences are inferentially helpful, but through participation of fellow students and reflection on the experience even at the theoretical level, they are not essential to midwifery studies.
Relevance/conclusion: The results can stimulate activating and experiential teaching and influence learning and transfer processes. The reflection of individual experiences within a heterogeneous student body is part of an increase in knowledge and competence. Own birth experience does not necessarily qualify midwifery students for a higher gain of knowledge and competence. Nevertheless, it is evident from the results that subjective experiences should be reflected in teaching-learning contexts in order to classify them theoretically and thus, through self-explanation, allow the entire semester to participate in achieving a higher gain in knowledge.
Deriving recommendations for action: All peripartum experiences, including merely observed experiences, influence competence gain and learning success in midwifery studies. In order to use subjective or professionally acquired knowledge in terms of personality formation, learning guidance, design of teaching-learning processes and theory-practice transfer, various learning principles are combined, which are concisely explained in the paper.
Ethics and conflicts of interest: This abstract was written in the context of a master’s thesis. A vote on ethics was not necessary. The research was financed by own resources. There are no conflicts of interest.