Coddle Model Part I: Nursing versus Teaching

There are far too few great nurses. But, I need to say, I have met some of these fabulous nurses. They have worked for students who are medically fragile. I'll tell you what a great nurse can do. She [they've all been female so far] can figure out, ahead of the event, what will cause any level of discomfort or disequalibrium to her patient. She then arranges the environment or environmental conditions so that the predicted event is avoided by her patient. The result? The patient is not disrupted from his/her state of being. No stress is placed upon him/her. The environment has been arranged so the patient warmly purrs across smooth interactions and transitions. Desires are filled before a lack of anything is noticed. Routines are run. Roles are played.





There are far too few great teachers. But, I need to say, I have met some of these fabulous teachers. I'll tell you what a great teacher can do. S/he can figure out, ahead of the event, what will cause any level of discomfort or disequalibrium in his/her student. S/he then arranges the environment or environmental conditions so that the predicted event takes place and impacts his/her student. The student becomes aware of a desire to overcome an obstacle. S/he either uses a tool that the teacher has taught or uses critical thought to solve the conundrum. By the end of the experience, the student is no longer the same. S/he has learned something.





Great nursing cancels great teaching. They are reciprocols. In the classroom, nursing is sometimes absolutely necessary. In those cases, the health of the child takes precedence over the learning rate. And, in those cases, the nurse takes [justifiable] professional pride that her patient has avoided any stressors & will be able to save his/her energy to fight off health concerns that will come up in seconds, minutes, or hours.





The student is a recipient of the coddle model [named by the great Conan Thornhill presently of Kentwood High in Kent, Washington]. Under the coddle model, an unstressed & coddled student can expect to have few, if any, challenges. Think about how damaging this is to the learning process. There is, really, no reason to learn anything. The student learns that there is always someone around dedicated to making his/her life smooth & eliminating stressors wherever possible.





I have a saying: "My students may be retarded but they aren't stupid". That is to say, they use the knowledge & experiences they have to determine what is in their best interests. Then they act in what they believe to be their best interests. These students have learned that they will not often be faced with challenges and added stressors from their environment. So they learn that they don't need to learn.





Life is good. Don't rock the boat.





The End








.......or is it?