You learn when you teach: A narrative pedagogy for faculty and doctoral-level student teaching assistants

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of online co-teaching for PhD faculty and teaching assistants (TAs). Narrative pedagogy underpinned the inquiry, which was designed to advance the discourse on mentorship of PhD future faculty. A faculty member and TA authors kept concurrent weekly journals or after-the-fact written reflections. The authors analyzed data as a team using a five-phase interpretive phenomenological analysis process to interpret the meaning of co-teaching for faculty and TAs. Lines of inquiry, central concerns, exemplars, shared meanings, and paradigm cases supported the overall interpretation, “You Learn When You Teach.” Co-mentorship should be a requirement for nursing faculty preparation programs. Five strategies for ensuring success of PhD nursing students’ development as professional nurse scholars are recommended. Doctoral programs (e.g., PhD; DNP) would benefit from a unified approach to faculty preparation, guided by theories such as narrative pedagogy.