Teaching: the art of connecting. Lesson from the front line

Teaching is an art. Teaching is a pleasure.... when it goes well.

Last month I had the opportunity to do one of those "didn't go so well presentations". The topic was a favorite. The group was fabulous. What went wrong?

Parker Palmer writes in his book "The Courage to Teach" that good teachers having the capacity to help students weave connections (with content, with personal experiences, with other students, and with the teacher.)

I was reminded that before we can help people connect with the content, we need to connect with the content ourselves!

I had recently updated my presentation with an esteemed colleague in preparation for a team teaching opportunity. With his permission I included "his slides". I thought I knew his slides - we had talked through them and worked with them several times over the phone. But when it came to presenting the material and to answering questions, the words to explain the slides were not there and a few slides did not seem to make sense!

In this incident, I thought I was prepared.... after all, we had worked with the presentation several times. But in the end, I realized that I had not really connected with his slides, with the words to talk about the slides, and with the science behind the slides.

For dinner that night I ate a lovely piece of humble pie, and was grateful for kind participants and honest feedback - both of which helped me remember CONNECT CONNECT CONNECT.

When Pharmacists show up to play! Announcing the new Canadian Palliative Care Formulary

Hospice Palliative Care is all about team - and team is all about who shows up to play. Over the years I have noticed the difference when a strong, committed and talented pharmacist shows up to play.

Bruce Kennedy is a pharmacist in Fraser Health. His kids, he says, figure he is “just a pharmacist”. And yet in BC his dedication to HPC, desire to translate his knowledge of medication into language that can be understood by the rest of the team, and his desire to play on the “team” has contributed to the development of the Fraser Health Symptom Management Guidelines http://www.fraserhealth.ca/professionals/hospice_palliative_care. These guidelines provide a strong foundation for the delivery of symptom management. I tribute Bruce and the FH team for these guidelines.

More recently Bruce’s commitment to education and resource development has resulted in the writing of a Canadian version of the Palliative Care Formulary, adapted from the parent edition produced in the UK by Twycross and Wilcock. This book links with the international www.palliativedrugs.com (a website dedicated to disseminate information and stimulate international dialogue about the use of medications in HPC). This book looks to be a fabulous resource and can be ordered in Canada from the CHPCA website http://www.chpca.net/home.html .

A great pharmacist may be a nurses best friend and a most effective advocate for patient comfort. In Dawson Creek in north eastern BC, Nicole Dahlen is one of those pharmacists! Nikki's support is felt locally and her leadership influences care regionally across the north as she helps to integrate and teach the FH clinical guidelines in practice.

Way to go Bruce! Good work Nikki! And way to go pharmacists who show up to play!

Dr. Dana Cable - an inspiring mentor and professor, and a great leader in thanatology....

I love to tell stories of people.... how they have inspired me, guided me, shared great moments together.... And if I was to share these memories of Dana three months ago, it would have been as easy as that... but today, after his all too sudden death, it feels difficult to sum up my thoughts in a public forum, and to share something that would have meaning to anyone other than myself and my "Hood College colleagues".

Parker Palmer in his fabulous book "The Courage to Teach" states "Good teachers possess a capacity for connectedness. They are able to weave a complex web of connections among themselves, their subjects, and their students so that students can learn to weave a world for themselves. The methods used by these weavers vary widely: lectures, Socratic dialogues, .... The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts..."

In 2004 I traveled to Hood College to check out their Masters in Thanatology program while attending a course at Johns Hopkins University just an hour south. It was obvious from my first meeting with Dana, that Dana was student centered. He was willing to support my unique needs as a student traveling from the other side of the continent.

After addressing the practical concerns of how I could combine on-site, distance, transfer, and independent study... one question remained....












"Why Hood College?"

Why was this program not offered at Johns Hopkins or some prestigious college or university?

I learned the answer in the months that followed -

Why Hood College?

The answer - Dana Cable.

In the summer of 2004 and some of 2005, I lived in Frederick, Maryland.















It was a rather fairy tale existence. I studied, ate soft pretzels, walked the streets and park of this historic town, and then more of the same. I always expected girls to come skipping down the steps of the beautiful old brick buildings wearing poodle skirts!

Classes were held in basement rooms that lacked style or charm. And sitting in the uncomfortable old desk/chairs, using outdated equipment, Dana would teach.... and teach he did.

Dana presented theory and told stories. The hours cruised by. He was inspiring, and we were inspired.

He taught about Near Death Experiences . One day in class Dana asked, "If you could take one thing with you when you die, what would it be?"

After some discussion a student asked Dana what he would take. He replied, "A fork."

In answer to the question he told us a story from his childhood.... after dinner, his mom would clear the table and say, "Save your fork, the best is yet to come."

With love and gratitude for a beloved man,

Kath


Dana's formal obituary can be found at:
http://www.staufferfuneralhome.com/obits/obituary.php?id=36543

Online support group for Canadians affected by cancer

I am on a roll today highlighting Canadian resources.

As part of a nation-wide effort to provide high-quality psychosocial care to all Canadians affected by cancer, several of Canada's leading authorities for psychosocial oncology have partnered to provide counsellor-led online support groups.

These online support groups are available to Canadians who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families/loved ones and are free of charge no matter where they live.

Weekly sessions are 1.5 hours long and take place in "real time". The groups operate continuously throughout the year for 8 - 10 weeks at a time.

Please contact Cancer Chat Canada toll-free at 1-800-663-3333 extension 4955 or 4966, or email cansco@bccancer.bc.ca.

Before teaching in the Dr John Morgan online program in death, dying, palliative care education (which became www.LDMonline.ca) I questioned if death dying and palliative care education could be taught online in a satisfactory way. If you had asked me at that time if an online support group could be effective I would have questioned that as well!

After five years of teaching online, developing strategies designed to meet the needs of individual learners, utilizing various new technologies, and enjoying phenomenal discussions during teleconferences and within forum postings, I am convinced that online communities can support, educate and energize one another. And so I am very interested in hearing of these support groups and expect that they will be very successful!

In the online education program (Death Dying and Palliative Care Education Online www.LDMonline.ca) we see individuals who may not be comfortable sharing in a face to face group, share more easily in an online discussion. Those who like time to consider before responding, often share later via postings. Participants with visual, auditory and mobility challenges appreciate the opportunities in online participation and posting.

This project is limited to individuals who are affected by cancer.

Recently Deb Ribeyre, on Vancouver Island led both a phone and an online support group for caregivers of people with dementia. (Deb is going to teach the online course "Loss Grief and Dying with Dementia" with LDMonline.ca in the fall)

We repeatedly hear how our lives are changing because of the new technologies. Here is another great example of this!

If you have feedback on these groups, please share via comments.

Kath

From Loss to Life - New Canadian bereavement resource

Cynthia Mitchell has launched her new website "From Loss to Life". (http://fromlosstolife.com/index.html)

It appears that she will provide: counselling for individuals and groups who have experienced a variety of losses, workshops on death education, and funeral/memorial services.

The site offers: a blog, practical suggestions for people who are grieving, and a place for upcoming events.

It is great to see the development of Canadian resources.

All the best to Cynthia!

Kath

Award goes to Canadian Virtual Hospice

I am a fan of Canadian Virtual Hospice! They provide excellent online resources and respond individually to questions from patients, caregivers, and professionals.
Last month the website was "recognized as “exceptional” by an international panel of judges at an awards ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts. The site, received a silver award in the website category from the Health & Science Communications Association (HeSCA)...
“This is the Olympics of health care communication so obviously we are very pleased,” said Shelly Cory, Executive Director of Canadian Virtual Hospice, which is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov, Chair of Virtual Hospice said, “most gratifying is the feedback we receive every day from Canadians saying that we’ve made a real difference in their lives - that we’ve made a difficult time a little easier.” (Canadian Virtual Hospice, News Release June 14,2010, Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.virtualhospice.ca/Assets/HESCA%20award_20100614133538.pdf )

Congrats to the CVH team - they are a great group of individuals, with insight, heart, and compassion. Great to have a Canadian resource do so well on the international stage!

Kath

Loss Grief and Growth is on Curriculum Services Canada's website

It is very exciting to announce that the Loss Grief and Growth Resource is available free of charge for download from http://www.curriculum.org/ . Simply go to the site, choose English or French, then choose Classroom Resources, then Supplementary Resources, and then scroll down until you come to Loss Grief and Growth. Click on the link, and you will come to a description of the resource, and click to download.

Mary Kay MacKenzie and I presented the LGG Resource at the Canadian Association of School Administrators last week in Quebec City. It was gratifying to see the response, to hear the interest in the resource, and to know that it fits in the school budgets (it is free!). Way to go to the Teachers of Ontario who wrote the original curriculum, and to the Funeral Associations of Ontario and Canada, and the Ontario Board of Funeral Services who provided leadership/support to bring this to fruition!

Let us know what your thoughts are as you look at it, plan to use it, and then as you integrate it either proactively or as you respond to the needs of kids when a loss occurs.

Happy Summer,

Kath