As I mentioned in my first Blog Post, Introducing Me, I have been
a pharmacy technician since 1999. During this time I obtained a position as a
Pharmacy Technician Specialist. One of the responsibilities I had in this
position was training new hires how to make intravenous solutions. This
training process takes four weeks. Over the years I had a multitude of different experiences with an eclectic mix of new trainees. I developed a system of training that
seemed to work best for me and for most of the new hires I worked with. Unbeknownst
to myself, I was using the teaching method of Gradual Release:
I Do, You Watch:
For the first week I had the trainee watch my technique,
explained what they could or could not touch (for aseptic purposes), and
introduced them to the “foreign” vocabulary used in the Pharmacy’s Clean Room.
I would allow each individual to choose when he or she was ready and
comfortable enough with the process to begin performing aseptic technique
hands-on. Many new technicians wanted to start helping by the end of the first
week, some would wait until the beginning of week two.
I Do, You Help:
Depending on the trainee, at
the beginning of week two I would perform a majority of the more complicated formulations. I
did so in order to allow the trainee ample time to get hands on experience with the
more simple procedures, like adding a drug to a bag of fluid. The more practice they had handling syringes and paying attention to needle
safety, the more comfortable they became with the whole process.
You Do, I Help:
By week three, unless it was an unusually busy day with an extremely heavy workload, I would allow the trainee to perform most of the aseptic
procedures, encouraging them to ask as many questions as they needed to and
jumping in to assist them whenever they asked for help, I saw them struggling
with something or if they were making a mistake that would put a patient at risk.
You Do, I Watch:
By the beginning of week four most trainees would be
responsible for all the Clean Room’s daily responsibilities and assignments. During
this last week of training, my prime goal was to ensure that the trainee was
capable of performing the jobs required to be Clean Room certified. By the end of week four I had to be completely confident that the trainee would be successful at completing the job independently. I mainly
observed, looking for mistakes or improvements that could be made and anything
else that would be detrimental if left uncorrected. Some things I would point
out immediately (due to patient safety), while other issues I would bring up
during down time so we could further discuss the issue and clear up any
misunderstandings.
This teaching method was extremely successful in my years as
an aseptic technique trainer and I am very excited and enthusiastic to use it
in my teaching practices. Although the method will not be executed in the exact same manner when utilized in the classroom, I am thankful for the years of experience I had successfully using the practice.
For more information watch: Gradual Release Video
I liked the example you provided-it is surprising how often this method is probably used outside an academic setting without either party even realizing it. I can think of about a million different times when I was either training for a job, or training someone else for a job in which we used the gradual release method; of course, I didn't identify it at the time. Now that I think about it, however, the gradual release strategy has been a staple of a number of different parts of my life, and I don't doubt that will continue as I become a teacher. it seems like an extremely effective way to teach material to students, who eventually become masters at that material as they take it into their own hands. This real-world skill (being able to gradually master something with assistance) is an essential one for both teachers and students.
ReplyDeleteI agree that gradual release seems like a very successful way to teach people and it is one that people use all the time without really knowing the name for it. Teachers will be able to make sure that the students are mastering certain skills and are doing them correctly while the students can feel more relaxed about learning those skills. They aren't being thrown into the deep end and being told to figure things out for themselves. We've talked about how it's kind of what we've been doing at District C. We went out in larger groups and now we're at the point where we've been observing on our own and soon we'll be teaching our own lessons. Doing something new completely on your own for the first time is always a little bit nervewracking, but I think gradual release makes things a lot easier and takes some of the worry away because by the end, you've been fully prepared and are ready to perform whatever skill you've learned.
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