Isabel Norton Ososki
Associate Professor of Nursing
 Academic Bio
Isabel Ososki earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1973. She completed her Master of Science degree in Medical-Surgical Nursing at St. Louis University in 1981, and her MBA from Millikin University in 2003. She began teaching at Millikin in 1980, was awarded tenure in 1984, and promoted to associate professor in 1987. In addition to her faculty position in the School of Nursing traditional program, she has served as faculty coordinator of the RN-BSN completion program since 2005. Her practice background is acute and critical-care nursing. She earned national certification as a nurse educator in 2006 (the inaugural year for this certification).
She has a long history of university service at Millikin. Her thesis, Diet manipulation of sweet and sour taste: A way to improve the taste in the oncological client, was nominated for a Sigma Theta Tau research award at St. Louis University. Professor Ososki belongs to the honor societies of Alpha Tau Delta, Sigma Theta Tau, and Phi Kappa Phi.
Philosophy of Teaching
The comfort – not complacency – and passion I find in teaching creates a satisfaction and enjoyment that has continued to nurture and sustain me for almost 30 years as an educator.
Excellent teachers do much more than carry on classroom conversations. Teaching and learning is involved with every meaningful interaction that occurs between members of the university community. In fact the best critical thinking teaching moments often come outside the formal classroom setting. As a professor it is important to be aware of these opportunities to create better thinkers and adapt quickly to best take advantage of the moment. Classroom assignments are structured to foster integration, reflection, critical thinking, and synthesis of knowledge and provide very important tools to help students become successful practitioners, but I believe the truly excellent teacher is one who recognizes a teaching moment outside the structure of assignments and class and is able to help the student recognize and benefit from it too. Teachers model professional behavior; helping students integrate classroom theory in everyday practical experiences and motivating them to extrapolate a theoretical plan into real life action.
I feel it is important to teach conceptually rather than give students linear rules to follow: It is more important to teach “how” to think rather the strictly “what” to know. I cannot teach the student everything he or she might need to know – so instead I must teach the student HOW to find information, ask the pertinent questions, and see beyond the obvious. Conceptual, nonlinear teaching can create stress in students and it is important to recognize their discomfort and provide a safe learning environment for students to experiment in the classroom and then apply what they have learned in clinical.
Although several theorists hold interesting views of education, my teaching style is most defined by those involving constructivism (Mezirow –transformative learning), humanism (Rogers – experiential learning), and humanitarianism (Watson – caring theory). The constructivist view holds that learning is dynamic, that the learner is an essential and active participant; the teacher is a guide or facilitator to learning and the journey is as important as the destination. It involves active learning strategies that create contexts that are personally meaningful and build from current levels of understanding – Mezirow (2000, 1997) would say transformational!! Humanism revolves around the idea that knowledge is constructed when learners try to make sense of their experiences. Carl Rogers defined learning as either cognitive (i.e. memorization) or experiential (application) and challenged educators to facilitate the later by creating a positive climate, clarifying objectives, making learning resources available, providing material that is relevant to the learner, and encouraging self-initiation of learning (Kirschenbaum, 2004). Humanitarianism involves providing a supportive, protective environment, being approachable and authentic (Watson, 2005).
As I reflect on my years of teaching at Millikin University I think I have been very effective in shaping and supporting the vision and mission of the university and providing nursing students with the knowledge and values they need to be professionally successful in the classroom and out. My attention to and love for students is reflected in the manner I teach and the individual attention I give to students. Students typically state that I expect much – but also give much. I do have high standards – it is out of respect for the important job we as educators do every day to shape students so that they have the knowledge necessary to be successful, understand their responsibility in society, and have lives that are personally and professionally meaningful.
Full citations for above references are available on request. |
