Flipped learning reshapes nursing educator identity
This research aims to understand how adopting the flipped approach affects nursing educators’ professional identity and how this may support sustained, responsive teaching innovation in nursing education contexts.
What did we research?
We investigated nurse educators implementing a flipped active learning approach in a second-year clinical module, focusing on identity shifts, facilitation, and collaborative adoption challenges.
What did we find?
Educators experienced anxiety as the flipped approach challenged their traditional lecturer identity and required letting go of content ownership. Through practice and teamwork, they developed facilitator confidence. They observed richer student learning, autonomy, and clinical thinking, but identified barriers including resource needs, assessment misalignment, professional development gaps and workload pressures.
What was the impact?
We suggest nursing education leaders should support pedagogical change by recognising identity disruption, building communities of practice, providing facilitation training, aligning curriculum and assessment, and resourcing suitable learning spaces. These supports can sustain flipped learning, strengthen educator confidence, and prepare students for collaborative, reflective, clinically reasoned nursing practice effectively.
Article
- Garvey, L., Hood, K., Willetts, G., Weller-Newton, J., Wheelahan, J., Croy, G. (2023). Nursing educators adopting the flipped approach: Challenging professional identity. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 18(2), 257-262.