Maintaining a safe, yet creative learning space

Whilst affirming the emotional impact described in the previous section, student responses consistently stated that this new approach still nevertheless felt safe and secure for them. Both groups therefore evaluated the experience as an effective and enjoyable approach to take. In terms of staying within comfortable boundaries, even if the film content was occasionally challenging, the groups again responded positively:

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“It makes you question practice and that has to be a good thing… it was a useful thing to do in the time… would like to see it [the approach/ triggers- used] again” (Group 1 discussion notes).

The students recognised that using creative and visual media was enhancing the impact of the learning and yet was still firmly located within their comfort zone. As educators working within higher education have the responsibility to risk assess the learning planned for their classrooms, it was important to explore with the participants whether the use of dramatic, emotive and occasionally visually challenging fictional film felt ‘safe’ and secure to them. As described in the previous section, several of the students had used the analogy of the ‘emotional rollercoaster’ to describe this particular learning experience, employing this comparison to describe the complex and turbulent range of emotions ignited by the dramatic stories within the fictional films.

One of the sub-groups within Group 2 discussed how they felt very sad and emotionally drained watching the first ‘Bodies’ episode because so much of the drama resonated with real practice. This was ‘edge of the seat’ drama, helping them to identify and prioritise issues, whilst reflecting on the narratives in a safe environment. Parts of the films they had watched were described as ‘horrifying’ and ‘traumatic’ to view because of the gravity of the mistakes that were being displayed within the drama. The fact that the stories were fictional made this process feel easier to them than contemplating real case scenarios, whilst nevertheless enabling critical consideration of the issues raised.

The previous section discussed some of the students’ emotional responses which appeared to be directly related to what had been specifically happening within the stories. The visual immediacy of the fictional film is at least in part explicitly

designed to be emotive. However the learning process was nevertheless consistently described by both groups in very positive terms:

“So I think… learning experience… …I think not only watching the film was a learning experience in seeing the storyline going on but also a learning

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experience to watch something like that alongside everyone else. …and…I think it was a really beneficial learning experience… …I really enjoyed it… …and I think it was a really appropriate film as well because, although at times it did not really seem like it was that related to the course we are doing… I think it is because a lot of today’s society experience similar issues and you need to have an awareness of it so…I think it was a really good way of portraying… reality for some people really”. (P.4., Ph.2).

The students were asked both in their groups and during interviews to comment on whether the approach felt comfortable, risky or personally challenging,

situating this in a context that acknowledged the group experience:

“If I had watched the film alone it would have been a totally different experience to watching it in a group, because I felt like at times there were almost moments that I thought…oh gosh…I am going to well up in a minute, but I tried to control it whereas if I had been on my own it’s a bit natural to let it go…” (P.4., P1).

The students described predominantly how these learning experiences did not feel risky to them. This approach to the EBL was described as an ‘exciting’ use of their time, which they recognised as cathartic and justifiable in terms of building resilience to ‘upsetting issues’. This felt appropriate to all of the participants, considering the context in which they were learning, because the classroom was a more secure space in which to reflect on challenging issues:

“I think it just made me stop and made me think… it has made me realise that I do need to [address issues like this] whether I am able to …. well I realise that I need to be aware…..it has motivated me to try and act better in practice” (P.1., Ph.2).

“It makes it a real life experience because that is what life is like. It is not necessarily you know plain sailing. Yeah and it did make you think

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because if the healthcare nowadays was like that I think that I would really question it because they were making decisions based on no evidence at all and I think that it can’t be like that” (P.3., Ph.2).

When asked the question regarding the security of the approach, all but one of the participants responded that they felt that the new approach did feel secure. This participant contrasted ‘safety’ with reality:

“It doesn’t necessarily make it safe but it makes it realistic, it makes it a real life experience because that is what life is like”. (P.3., Ph.1).

Nevertheless the students did still acknowledge the extent of the emotional impact and the need to manage this sensitively. There had been clear evidence from the observation and the group experiences that some students had reacted emotionally whilst watching the ‘Ladybird, Ladybird’ film in Group 2:

“During one of the very violent scenes there are gasps from some of the students (the main character in the film is being physically assaulted by her partner). Some of the students are crying when the same character goes to visit her injured children in hospital (they have been badly burnt in a fire). There are also clear signs of emotional engagement when the woman’s new baby is taken from her by social workers slightly after the birth. There is some dabbing of eyes and other obvious signs of sadness” (Observation

Notes, Group 2).

The amount of violence in the film was noted and commented upon by the students and they responded that it was important to prepare the groups for this challenging material, which had included scenes of child abuse:

“Definitely…definitely because obviously you made us aware that this was quite a graphic film and there... there was scenes of violence and .. we needed to [know] that we could leave the room. So I think that there was pretty much preparation and you handed the DVDs around for

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people to look at. We all had a read around what it was based on and what kind of…how it can affect the kids as well because the kids as well… it was quite upsetting the way that that boy got

burned….(P.1.,Ph.1).

There was shared group understanding demonstrated by the participants

regarding the rationale for taking this approach. The participant information packs were designed to support full understanding of the research aims and focus the students on specific aspects of the films as they also evaluated the impact of the new triggers. The approach taken was not described by any of the participants as feeling threatening to them, so the level of risk appeared well contained.

Thus both groups positively responded that the use of the fictional film resources had instigated enhanced critically reflective group discussions, including more impassioned dialogue about their own clinical experiences. This new learning experience was described as feeling like ‘a safe learning space’ in which to share both their own stories and debate the issues raised within the fictional film

resources. Feelings initiated by watching this drama had included anger, fear, worry and frustration, but within comfortable boundaries and, importantly, reflected on at a safe distance from the clinical environment.