The Alberta Journal of Educational Research
Vol. XLV. No. 4, Winter 1999,468-470
Diana L. Gustafson Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and Institute for Women's Studies and Gender Studies, University of Toronto
Toward Inclusionary Practices in the Education of Nurses: A Critique of Transcultural Nursing Theory F o r o v e r a d e c a d e r e s e a r c h that a d d r e s s e s i n c l u s i v e e d u c a t i o n h a s e x a m i n e d the s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n of k n o w l e d g e ( A l c o f f & P o t t e r , 1993; C a m p b e l l & M a n i c o m , 1995; H a r d i n g , 1992, S m i t h , 1987, 1990a, 1990b, 1996), access t o e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d p r o g r a m s ( B l a c k m o r e & K e n w a y , 1993; R e y n o l d s & Y o u n g , 1995), c u r r i c u l a r r e f o r m ( G a s k e l l & M c L a r e n , 1991; G a s k e l l , M c L a r e n , & N o v o g r o d s k y , 1989), c h i l l y c l a s s r o o m c l i m a t e s ( C h i l l y C o l l e c t i v e , 1995; S a n d l e r , S i l v e r b e r g , & H a l l , 1996), a n d strategies f o r t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g ( A c k e r , 1994; B r i s k i n , 1991; D e i , 1996a, 1996b; L a t h e r , 1991; M a n i c o m , 1992; M c C o r m i c k , 1994). F e m i n i s t s a n d c r i t i c a l theorists c o n c e r n e d w i t h a d v a n c i n g the a g e n d a o f i n c l u s i v e e d u c a t i o n s p e a k a b o u t h o w w o m e n a n d o t h e r m a r g i n a l i z e d g r o u p s affect a n d are affected b y e x c l u s i o n a r y practices i n e d u c a t i o n . U n d e r l y i n g this r e s e a r c h is a n a s s u m p t i o n that h o w w e c o m e to k n o w (or n o t k n o w ) o u r s e l v e s is d i s c o v e r a b l e i n a n d m e d i a t e d b y i n s t i t u t i o n a l texts, i m a g e s , p o l i c i e s , a n d s t r u c t u r a l processes. T h a t is to say, d o m i n a n t e d u c a t i o n a l k n o w l e d g e s y s t e m s o r g a n i z e h o w w e c o n s t r u c t o u r s e l v e s a n d others as g e n d e r e d a n d m a l e o r female, racialized a n d w h i t e or black, straight o r gay, able-bodied or d i s a b l e d , v a l u e d or disrespected, p o w e r f u l o r powerless. Generally, stud e n t s a n d f a c u l t y w h o see t h e m s e l v e s a n d t h e i r v a l u e s , beliefs, a n d interests r e p r e s e n t e d a n d p r o t e c t e d i n i n s t i t u t i o n a l k n o w l e d g e s feel i n c l u d e d a n d p o w e r f u l . C o n v e r s e l y , s t u d e n t s a n d f a c u l t y w h o d o n o t see t h e m s e l v e s r e p r e sented i n i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d k n o w l e d g e s g e n e r a l l y feel e x c l u d e d a n d o p p r e s s e d i n a n d b y the e d u c a t i o n a l s y s t e m . T h e p r i m a r y p u r p o s e o f this research is to e x t e n d the d i a l o g u e a b o u t i n c l u s i v e e d u c a t i o n i n t o n u r s i n g e d u c a t i o n b y e n g a g i n g i n the first anti-racist c r i t i q u e o f t r a n s c u l t u r a l n u r s i n g t h e o r y ( T C N ) . D r a w i n g o n the w o r k s o f D e i (1996a, 1996b), F i n e , W e i s , P o w e l l , a n d W o n g , (1997), F i n e a n d W i s e (1993), F r a n k e n b e r g (1993,1997), M c C a r t h y a n d C r i c h l o w (1993), a n d others I e x a m i n e h o w T C N e m b o d i e s , i m p a r t s , a n d reinforces the d o m i n a n t s o c i a l d i s c o u r s e s ( v a l u e s , b e l i e f s , l a n g u a g e , a n d p o l i t i c a l interests) a b o u t race, e t h n i c i t y , c u l t u r e , a n d r a c i s m a n d o r g a n i z e s the e v e r y d a y l i v e s of w h i t e a n d m i n o r i t i z e d n u r s i n g s t u d e n t s a n d f a c u l t y . S p e c i f i c a l l y , this research a d d r e s s e s three q u e s t i o n s : (a) W h a t a r e t h e e x p l i c i t a n d i m p l i c i t d e f i n i t i o n s o f race, e t h n i c i t y , c u l t u r e , a n d r a c i s m c o n s t r u c t e d i n t r a n s c u l t u r a l n u r s i n g t h e o r y ? (b) H o w , if at a l l , d o n u r s -
Diana Gustafson is a dual-enrolled doctoral student whose research interests include health care reform and its impact on Canadian women. She can be reached at
[email protected] or SESE - 12th floor, OISE/University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St W, Toronto O N M5S 1V6.
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i n g s t u d e n t s a n d f a c u l t y take u p o r c h a l l e n g e these w a y s of t h i n k i n g a b o u t race, e t h n i c i t y , c u l t u r e , a n d r a c i s m ? (c) W h a t c o m m o n g r o u n d , if a n y , u n d e r l i e s the p r i n c i p l e s a n d practices of t r a n s c u l t u r a l n u r s i n g e d u c a t i o n a n d a n t i - r a c i s m e d u c a t i o n as p e d a g o g i c a l a p p r o a c h e s t o s o c i a l d i f f e r e n c e a n d r a c i a l o p p r e s sion? O n e i m p e t u s f o r this r e s e a r c h arises f r o m m y interest i n c o m p l i c a t i n g n u r s e s ' l o c a t i o n as a f e m a l e s u b o r d i n a t e i n h e a l t h care b y l o o k i n g at h o w other p o w e r r e l a t i o n s o r g a n i z e the e d u c a t i o n a l p r e p a r a t i o n of n u r s e s a n d , i n t u r n , o r g a n i z e n u r s i n g p r a c t i c e . I n d o i n g this r e s e a r c h I a m also t a k i n g u p the c h a l l e n g e t o e x a m i n e t h e u n e a r n e d benefits a n d p r i v i l e g e s that a c c r u e t o m e as •a w h i t e e d u c a t o r i n a r a c i a l i z e d e d u c a t i o n a l s y s t e m . If k n o w l e d g e i s a c o n d u i t for p o w e r then I m u s t critically examine h o w I question, use, a n d give authority to k n o w l e d g e i n m y teaching practice a n d i n m y w r i t i n g . These foci c o m b i n e d w i t h t h e e a r l y o u t c o m e s of s o m e p r e l i m i n a r y w o r k p r o d u c e d a s e c o n d and parallel purpose. I n t h e e a r l y stages of this research I e x a m i n e d c u l t u r a l s e n s i t i v i t y as a n o r g a n i z i n g p r i n c i p l e i n the n u r s i n g c u r r i c u l u m at a n O n t a r i o c o m m u n i t y c o l lege ( G u s t a f s o n , 1998). C u l t u r a l s e n s i t i v i t y , a c o r e t h e m e of t r a n s c u l t u r a l n u r s i n g t h e o r y ( K o z i e r , E r b , B i a i s , & W i l k i n s o n , 1995) w a s a d o p t e d b y the n u r s i n g f a c u l t y i n t h e m i d 1980s as a r e s p o n s e t o i n c r e a s i n g c u l t u r a l d i v e r s i t y i n the c o m m u n i t y a n d s t u d e n t p o p u l a t i o n s . I a r g u e d that c u l t u r a l s e n s i t i v i t y i s a l i b e r a l r e s p o n s e t o race r e l a t i o n s that o r g a n i z e s a n d r e p r o d u c e s w h i t e n e s s a n d w h i t e r a c i a l i d e n t i t y as a d o m i n a n t , c e n t e r e d , absent p r e s e n c e i n n u r s i n g texts. S h i l l i n g (1993) first u s e d t h e p h r a s e " a b s e n t p r e s e n c e " (p. 19) to refer to the status of t h e b o d y i n s o c i o l o g i c a l t h e o r y , b u t the t e r m is a p p l i c a b l e t o c o n s t r u c t i o n s of w h i t e n e s s a n d w h i t e r a c i a l i d e n t i t y i n n u r s i n g texts. W h i t e n e s s a n d w h i t e r a c i a l i d e n t i t y are absent i n the sense that t h e y l i e o u t s i d e the l e g i t i m a t e c o n c e r n s of n u r s i n g e d u c a t i o n a n d t h e o r i z i n g . A t the s a m e t i m e , w h i t e n e s s a n d w h i t e r a c i a l i d e n t i t y are p r e s e n t i n the sense that t h e y are at the centre of a n d " n o u r i s h " (p. 19) the i d e o l o g y a n d s y s t e m of r a c i s m . T h e p r a c t i c a l issue that arose f r o m that p r e l i m i n a r y w o r k w a s p e d a g o g i c a l : H o w d o e s o n e facilitate the p r o c e s s of m a k i n g the i n v i s i b l e v i s i b l e to w h i t e s t u d e n t s a n d f a c u l t y w h o h a v e l e a r n e d n o t to see it? I c o n c l u d e d that this r e q u i r e s a " c o n t r a p u n t a l r e a d i n g of t h e t e x t " o r a c o n s c i o u s effort to " r e a d a g a i n s t the g r a i n . " T o facilitate this c r i t i c a l exercise, I a m g e n e r a t i n g a n d w i l l test a n i n s t r u m e n t that s u p p o r t s n u r s i n g f a c u l t y a n d students i n r e c o g n i z i n g a n d e x a m i n i n g u n p r o b l e m a t i z e d a s s u m p t i o n s a n d beliefs a b o u t c u l t u r a l d i v e r s i t y a n d s o c i a l d i f f e r e n c e . T h e s t r u c t u r e a n d f o r m a t of the i n s t r u m e n t d r a w s o n the w o r k s o f E i c h l e r (1991,1997) a n d E i c h l e r , G u s t a f s o n , a n d P o m p e t z k i (1999) w h o d e v e l o p e d a set of d i a g n o s t i c q u e s t i o n s f o r r e c o g n i z i n g s e x i s m i n research. T h i s i n s t r u m e n t f o r r e c o g n i z i n g o v e r t a n d h i d d e n f o r m s of r a c i s m is b e i n g f o r m u l a t e d s o that it m a y b e a p p l i c a b l e to o t h e r texts b e y o n d n u r s i n g . Acknowledgments I am grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for their support of this research. M y thanks to Margrit Eichler and George Dei for their comments on this article and for our ongoing conversations. References Acker, S. (1994). Gendered education: Sociological reflections on women, teaching and feminism. Toronto, O N : OISE Press.
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