Embedding learning in a paediatric hospital: changing practice and keeping connected

Abstract

This paper, the final paper in the Keeping Connected special issue, presents the key findings of the overall study and focuses on the challenging process of re-imagining a hospital setting as a community of learning for young people in light of these findings. The paper focuses on young people as learners within the overarching themes emanating from the Keeping Connected research such as normalcy, diversity and communication. Taking up Slee's notion of ‘the irregular school’, we describe how one setting in a large urban paediatric hospital in Victoria, Australia, is transforming the way in which children and young people are supported to maintain their connectedness to learning. We reflect on the evidence of the Keeping Connected project to inform the ways in which a hospital can respond to young people's needs as learners and offer a model of inclusion as a form of cultural change in this important out-of-school setting. Directions for future research are also offered.

Keywords:

• personalised learning
• paediatric hospital
• out-of-school learning
• young people
• inclusive education

Notes on contributors

Dr Liza Hopkins is a research fellow at the Royal Children's Hospital Education Institute, Melbourne. Her research interests include the interconnections between education, technology, health and well-being, areas in which she has widely published. She also has a particular focus on social and cultural diversity, and a recognition of the importance of social inclusion for all in a diverse, multicultural, multilingual and multifaith society.

Julianne Moss is Associate Professor of Education Studies at Deakin University and a member of Pedagogy and Curriculum Discipline Group. She is the President of the Australian Association for Research in Education 2013–2014.

Dr Julie Green is Executive Director of the Raising Children Network (RCN) (www.raisingchildren.net.au), an evidence-based, online parenting resource funded by the Australian government (FaHCSIA). During the Keeping Connected research, Julie was Deputy Director and Head of Research at the Royal Children's Hospital Education Institute, representing the industry partner in Keeping Connected.

Glenda Strong is Executive Director of the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, where she leads the implementation of innovative teaching and learning for children and young children in a hospital setting.

Notes

1. See project website for the final report – http://www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/keepingconnected/publications/

2. The term re-design is attributed to Thomson and Blackmore (2006).