Employing communities of practice to facilitate international culturally and linguistically diverse nursing students' identities as learners in Australia through immersive simulation.

Abstract

In this qualitative research study, a method to develop the capability of international nursing students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (ICALD) to participate with members of an Australian community of nursing practice was explored. This was done by providing participants with an opportunity to participate in a specifically designed immersive simulation program. In this research study, the situated learning perspective of communities of practice, based on Wenger's (1998) conceptual framework, is adopted. This perspective enabled the exploration of ICALD nursing students' participation with members of an Australian community of nursing practice, not only as involving the negotiation of social and cultural expectations of learning, but also their re-negotiation of identities as learners. Two research questions were explored: 1. In what ways may the concept of Communities of Practice be used as a framework for the design of immersive simulation? 2. In what way may immersive simulations informed by Communities of Practice develop the capability of international nursing students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to participate within Australian communities of nursing practice? A two-phase case study methodology was employed, drawing on data from ICALD students enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing program at one Australian university. In Phase One, five ICALD students described their experiences and perceptions of the first clinical placement in Australia. These findings were then interpreted through Wenger's (1998) lens of Communities of Practice to inform the design of three immersive simulations. In Phase Two, a total of seven ICALD nursing students participated, and these findings are represented in two case studies. Their experiences and perceptions of the immersive simulation program were uncovered. Whilst all Phase Two participants were located in the same physical context, the ways in which the participants perceived their social relations with members of an Australian community of nursing practice, and interacted with these members and each other during the immersive simulation program differed. These differences helped to illuminate understanding into ways of facilitating ICALD nursing students' participation with members of an Australian community of nursing practice. The findings from this research support five propositions regarding the influence of Communities of Practice as a design for learning in the form of immersive simulation: (1) significant meaningful learning occurs from exploring participation and non-participation through simulations that replicate everyday nursing practice; (2) competence from a Communities of Practice perspective facilitates understanding of learning as an ongoing process of becoming; (3) mutual engagement affords access to the joint enterprise and shared repertoire; (4) negotiation of multimembership must explore cultural difference in relation to participation; and (5) simulation represents a boundary object, which facilitates connections between communities of practice. Significantly, the research findings supported the development of The Situated Learning Design Framework for Simulation. Gaps in the current literature are addressed in this thesis. This study represents a step forward in understanding healthcare simulation design. Importantly, this research illuminates ways in which to facilitate the development of ICALD nursing students' identities of participation within an Australian community of nursing practice. It does this by proposing a more holistic application of Wenger's (1998) framework of CoP to nursing simulation.