A Case for Open Pedagogy in Nursing Education

Background:Open pedagogy increases access to equitable nursing education with its commitment to the scholarship of "teaching and learning" and critically framed, student-centered, relational, and open knowledge principles.Purpose:This study examined the operation of and factors that nurture and challenge the practice of open pedagogy in an undergraduate digital distance nursing education program.Methods:An exploratory qualitative methodology was used to examine linkages between open pedagogy and a nursing education program in an open digital distance Canadian university. A critical realist research paradigm provided the framework for the study.Results:Our findings shed light on how open pedagogy is practiced in relation to its 5 principles and delve into the major themes of nurse educator agency, course design, and institutional structure.Conclusions:The study addresses a dearth in the literature by exploring the potential of open pedagogy to increase access to meaningful and critically framed nursing education.