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Title Nurses' Experiences of Distance Education Programmes

Authors(s) Hyde, Abbey; Murray, Maurice

Publication date 2005-01

Publication information Journal of Advanced Nursing, 49 (1): 87-95

Publisher Blackwell (Wiley)

Item record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/4102

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Publisher's version (DOI) 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.03267.x

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 1 

This is the pre-proof version. The definitive version is publidhed as:  
 
Hyde, A, Murray, M, (2005) Nurses' experiences of distance education programmes. Journal 
of Advanced Nursing , 49 (1):87-95. 
 

Contact: abbey.hyde@ucd.ie 

 

NURSES’ EXPERIENCES OF DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMMES 

 

ABSTRACT 

Background:  While distance education has many advantages in terms of the 

flexibility, autonomy and freedom that it affords to learners, the literature reports that 

students undertaking distance education programmes can also experience feelings of 

being disconnected and isolated in the educational experience.  

Aims: This paper reports a study exploring the experiences of nurses in undertaking 

distance education programmes. 

Design/Methods: A convenience sample of 15 participants was selected, and data 

were collected using in-depth interviews. Data were analysed using a qualitative 

design that drew most heavily on the methodological procedures of grounded theory. 

Findings:  Habermas’ theory of communicative action was found to be relevant to the 

interpretation of data and four categories were constructed to explain participants’ 

experiences in relation to distance education, namely; lifeworld lamented; lifeworld 

experienced; lifeworld ceded; and learning within a bounded system. These categories 

reflect the manner in which participants experienced the lifeworld component (the 

interactive and subjective dimensions) and the system component (objective and 



 2 

outcome orientated dimensions) of the educational realm. While data indicated 

diversity in how the boundedness of the programmes was experienced, overall such 

standardised, instrumental courses were reported on favourably by participants within 

the limitations of their own personal circumstances.  

Conclusion:  

Based on the findings of this study we conclude that DE as a means of disseminating 

nursing knowledge should be strengthened. The challenge for nurse educators is to 

develop DE programmes that minimise their limitations and maximise their potential.  

 

 

 

Key words:  Nurse education; Critical thinking; Grounded theory; Republic of 

Ireland;  Distance education; Habermas. 



 3 

SUMMARY 

What is already known about this topic 

 Flexibility, autonomy and freedom in pursuing personal learning goals are seen as 

the main advantages of distance education 

 Students undertaking distance education programmes tend to experience feelings 

of disconnection and isolation. 

 Distance education for nurses is a growing enterprise in many countries, and 

increasing numbers of nurses are availing themselves of it.  

 

What this paper adds   

 Educational lifeworld experiences may be less relevant as a person ages. 

 The limited educational lifeworld of distance education has implications for the 

development of critical thinking. 

 The content of nursing programmes, with an emphasis on a reflexive type of 

learning, may have the capacity to offset the some of disadvantages of learning 

within a relatively constrained and bounded DE programme. 

 

 

 



 4 

INTRODUCTION 

Distance education (DE) for nurses is a growing enterprise in many countries, and 

many nursing and non-nursing organisations have reported the need for flexible and 

innovative delivery methods in education (An Bord Altranais 1997, World Health 

Organisation 1999, Government of Ireland 2000). In this paper, the experiences of 

nurses in undertaking DE programmes will be explored. Since the analysis draws on 

critical theory, the concept of DE for nurses will be linked to the notion of modernity 

(changes in society that have arisen with industrialisation over the past 200 years) in 

the course of the paper. 

BACKGROUND  

The potential for the use of distance education within nursing and midwifery was first 

highlighted in the United Kingdom in a major national survey carried out by Rodgers 

et al (1989), who concluded that distance education materials had the potential to link 

theory to practice, to develop the clinical role of the nurse, and to help link service 

and education. Clark (1994) notes that, looking back over the 1980s, there was 

awareness in the United Kingdom that flexible approaches to education were 

beginning to percolate through nursing and midwifery education and through higher 

education generally. In Ireland, the National Distance Education Center began to offer 

nursing degrees through distance education in the 1990s (Oscail 1999). 

 

There are various styles of DE, ranging from the industrial model self-study course 

package with limited teacher-student interaction to the fully interactive audio and 



 5 

video conferencing of the virtual classroom. Jarvis (1998: 157) defines distance 

education as:  

Those forms of education in which organised learning opportunities 

are usually provided through a technical media to learners who 

normally study individually, and removed from the teacher in both 

time and space.    

 

Distance learning is not usually mediated through a group, and it may have to be 

sustained in a relationship in which the teacher and learner never meet (Robinson 

1989). However, the inclusion of different technologies in DE can offer some choice 

of learning medium (Clark & Robinson 1994). Revolutionary technological advances 

in telecommunications, computers, the internet and audio systems make it feasible to 

deliver such programmes (Leasure et al. 2000). However, critics of DE suggest that 

these give excessive control to course designers and too little opportunity for the 

student to challenge the ‘facts’ presented in study materials (Coulter 1989). 

Educational endeavours with a heavy reliance on educational technology have been 

accused of adopting a controlling, scientific/behavioural model of education that 

focuses almost entirely on instrumental knowledge (Koetting 1983 cited in Nichols 

1989). 

 

Clearly, the possibility of students feeling disconnected and isolated is a very real one, 

and empirical evidence in nursing education research suggests that for many students 

this is indeed a feature of DE (Ryan et al. 1999, Carnwell 1998, Price 2000, Leasure 

et al. 2000). However, research on nurses pursuing DE programmes also indicates 



 6 

that they have the advantage of providing flexibility, autonomy and freedom in 

pursuing personal learning goals (Carnwell, 1998, Rogerson and Harden 1999). Over 

the past decade, with the rapid development of technologically-mediated learning, 

there has been a proliferation of DE programmes for nurses (Field 2002; Carr & 

Farley 2003; Alexander et al. 2003). 

 

Distance education and modernity 

Theoretical accounts of DE have tended to link it to modernity and the way in which 

industrial capitalism effected the separation of producers and consumers, and 

prompted a relationship mediated by technology (Keegan et al. 1985, Robinson 

1989). In pre-industrial society, home and workplace were often merged and children 

were educated within the family (Jones 1994).  The advent of industrialisation and 

compulsory schooling for children altered this social arrangement, and education 

became part of the public realm, split off from the domestic or private one. Drawing 

on the public/private dichotomy, Keegan et al. (1985) equate DE with the 

privatisation of the learner, that is, the dislocation of the learner in time and space 

from the public realm. Dislocation of the producer and consumer is a key feature of 

DE, and is characteristic of industrial systems (Robinson 1989). In data presented 

later in this paper, the notion of DE as a feature of late modernity is further developed 

drawing on the writings of Jürgen Habermas, whose work is considered briefly here 

before moving on to explore the data. 

 

Habermas and the problems of late capitalism  



 7 

Habermas (1984, 1987) observed a growing sense of goal, success and outcome- 

oriented culture in late capitalist societies, at the expense of equality-oriented 

interactive discourses. His theorisation is conceptualised in relation to two societal 

perspectives: the system and the lifeworld. The system represents the component of 

society associated with technical-scientific rationality, and is mediated by power and 

economic concerns. The system requires efficiency and strategic rationality in its 

operations (Habermas 1984). Within the system, the objectives of actors are self-

serving insofar as the aim is to maximise the individual pursuit of utility or economic 

profit (Andersen 2000: 332).  

 

Habermas developed the notion of lifeworld from the work of Edmund Husserl, and 

the writings of Alfred Schutz (Habermas 1984). For Habermas, the 'lifeworld' refers 

to the 'symbolic space' where meaning, solidarity and personal identity are 

communicated verbally. It is characterised by reflexive discourse, human rights and 

relationships, and aims at consensus through dialogue (Habermas 1984). It 

encompasses the background understandings and assumption shared within a culture 

that mediate everyday interactions (Habermas 1987). 

 

The system is associated with purposive-rational action, an instrumental kind of 

action in which the social actor determines the most effective means to an end in an 

objective and detached way (Weber 1968). The lifeworld is developed through a kind 

of rationality underpinned by negotiation and understanding, or what Habermas 

(1987) calls communicative action (Habermas 1987).  

 



 8 

Although Habermas (1984) acknowledged the need for purposive-rational action, he 

was concerned with the expansion of technological and scientific expertise at the 

expense of rules of conduct based on ethical considerations.  This he referred to as the 

colonisation of the lifeworld, in which the system, with its purposive rationality, 

intrudes into the lifeworld, moderating its communicative potential. Habermas (1987) 

contended that the colonisation of the lifeworld could be arrested by human action in 

the form of resistance by value-oriented social movements. 

 

The educational domain: system and lifeworld   

Habermas’ dualism of system and lifeworld may be very useful conceptual tools in 

considering the concept of education, and in particular DE. The system may loosely 

be conceptualised as that aspect of education removed from a personal and social 

context in which the overriding objective is to achieve the goals of the formal 

curriculum, transmitted in a top-down fashion, with the expertise of the educational 

provider relatively unchallenged. Dialogue between the provider and recipient of the 

education is at a minimum, and the scope for exchange of ideas in a two-way process 

is limited. A successful outcome at examinations is the aspiration, with little emphasis 

on the personal and social context of the educational process. The educational 

lifeworld, on the other hand, may be perceived as the realm in which verbal 

discourses and dialogues oriented to mutual understanding are articulated. The goals 

of this lifeworld go beyond the need for purely academic success, and involve 

discursive dialogue where subjective involvement for the purposes of human 

development is valued.  

THE STUDY 



 9 

Aim 

The aim of the study was to examine nurses' experiences in undertaking  DE 

programmes. 

Methodology 

In order to explore nurses' experiences in undertaking  DE programmes, a qualitative 

methodology was deemed preferable.  Qualitative research is concerned with 

exploring the meaning of experience and behaviour in context, in its full complexity 

and was considered the most appropriate strategy for examining interactive and 

subjective aspects of experience.  

Participants 

A purposive sample of fifteen participants took part in the study.  The inclusion 

criteria were that potential participants must have completed a course at diploma level 

or higher by DE at a third level (higher education) institution within the previous five 

years. One participant had completed a diploma programme, 9 had done bachelor's 

degrees, and five had completed Masters degrees by DE.   All participants were 

recruited from within the Republic of Ireland. The first 5 were accessed through the 

Director of Nursing at a hospital where it was known that some nurses had completed 

courses through DE. The remaining 10 participants were accessed by placing notices 

on the staff notice boards of 4 health care institutions, inviting suitable candidates to 

participate.  The notice outlined the aims of the study, and those interested were 

invited to telephone or e-mail the researcher. Thirteen of the 15 participants were 

female. Participants ages ranged from 26 to 54 years.  

 

Data collection 



 10 

Data were collected by semi-structured in-depth interviews in 2002-3. All interviews 

took place at a private location either at the hospital where the participant worked, or 

at another location deemed suitable by the participant. They ranged in length from 45 

minutes to 1 hour and 35 minutes, the average being 1 hour and 10 minutes and were 

tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim.  

 

A general topic guide was used, starting with broad questions such as, 'Tell me about 

what studying at a distance was like for you?'  At each successive interview, questions 

became more focused on the basis of evolving theoretical insights and, in grounded 

theory style, were 'guided by successively evolving interpretations’ (Strauss, 

1987:10). 

Ethical considerations 

Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics Committee at each of the 

health care institutions where participants were currently employed. Informed consent 

was obtained, and privacy and anonymity were guaranteed. Provision was made that 

should the process of recounting their experiences create distress for participants, a 

debriefing would occur after the interviews. However, this was unnecessary as all 

participants appeared very relaxed during the interviews. 

 

Data analysis 

Data were analysed concurrently with the interviews using a process resembling 

grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss 1967, Strauss 1987, Glaser 1992). The central 

techniques of grounded theory used were the constant comparative method, openness 



 11 

to evolving theoretical insights, and theoretical sampling where questions used are 

generated from previous data.  

 

The relevance of Habermas' work to the data did not emerge until the analysis stage of 

the study was well underway, and theoretical insights that emerged through an 

engagement with data gleaned in early interviews were tested out in later ones.  While 

some writers consider grounded theory as 'inductive theory' because of Glaser and 

Strauss's attack on speculative theory ungrounded in data in their earlier work, The 

Discovery of Grounded Theory, Strauss (1987) perceives this as a mistake. Rather, he 

asserts, developing theory from data involves three aspects of inquiry - induction, 

deduction, and verification. Induction is concerned with actions that generate a 

hypothesis - insights, hunches, and questions from previous experience with similar 

phenomena or from theoretical sensitivity through knowledge of technical literature. 

These are transformed into provisional and conditional hypotheses. Deduction refers 

to deriving implications from hypotheses so that they may be verified. Finally, 

verification concerns the procedures for qualifying or refuting the hypothesis (Strauss 

1987).  In this study, all three aspects of inquiry were employed in order to arrive at 

an explanation that ultimately draws heavily on the work of Habermas.  The move 

from substantive to formal theory, where a series of interrelated concepts developed 

in one substantive area may be used to conceptually analyse other areas, is a strong 

feature in the work of Glaser and Strauss (1967).   

 

FINDINGS 

 



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Registered nurses’ experiences of distances education programmes were 

conceptualised within four categories: lifeworld lamented; lifeworld experienced; 

lifeworld ceded; and learning within a bounded system. These categories comprise the 

most dominant ideas to emerge. 

 

Lifeworld lamented  

Eleven of the 15 participants reported that they lamented the limited degree of 

educational lifeworld in which they could engage. The virtual absence of fellow 

students, and the related lack of support and interpersonal camaraderie, created a 

sense of isolation: 

 

I think that is one of the missing links really. For me all through my 

training in nursing and through further education, I have always been 

involved in groups… I would have travelled a distance to meet up with 

people even once a week… that I maybe could bounce things off . . . 

Yes, definitely, one of the difficulties is being on your own really 

(Participant 2) 

 

I suppose you can feel very isolated, where my experience in 

[attendance programme] we were very much part of the team, 

everyone worked together. (Participant 4) 

 

Nine participants also referred to the fact that they missed the human contact with 

course tutors, and the quality of direct dialogue over and above text-based 



 13 

communications. In the following example, the participant refers to the absence of 

two-way communication in the kind of text-based assignment feedback that she 

received: 

Although it was good to get written feedback, there is something cold 

and sterile about . . . hearing how bad your essay is from written 

feedback. . . It was almost like one-way communication. . . . there was 

something a bit eh, cold or something about things just being written. 

(Participant 7).  

 

The example below suggests a hierarchy in terms of human contact, with direct 

human contact most favoured by the participant, followed by auditory human contact, 

with text-based communication considered to be the least satisfactory: 

I have e-mail … but I don’t feel it is as effective as human contact 

even by telephone. It does not replace it but I do agree you need to 

have access to it.  (Participant 2) 

 

Among those who regretted a limited lifeworld, three indicated that they attempted to 

overcome their sense of isolation by creating a version of an educational lifeworld in 

an informal way within their own social realm: 

. . .  we had a study group in the hospital with a few people doing a 

MSc in nursing. We do meet and we do try and work together, 

sometimes to give out and chat but at least it is support and you discuss 

the grades and that together . . . 

 (Participant 4) 



 14 

 

Now and then, I meet up with a girl who did the same course as me – a 

year ahead of me, and now that’s been great. . . We’d talk about things 

on the programme, giving out mostly [laughs], ah no. (Participant 11) 

 

Lifeworld experienced 

Although 11 participants really felt the impact of a restricted lifeworld on their 

educational experience, as demonstrated in the first category, there were reports that 

when the lifeworld was experienced, it was generally very gratifying. Nine 

participants generally expressed considerable levels of satisfaction with tutor 

interactions:  

I had great tutors. OK, I didn’t like the idea of contacting busy people, 

and you didn’t know if you were interrupting them…  I always felt that 

it was worth contacting them because I felt encouraged after 

(Participant 13) 

 

They (tutors) were very supportive really. I always felt that there was 

good quality contact. There was a sort of friendliness there – you know 

on my level. I didn’t feel intimidated. (Participant 6) 

 

The data suggest that the style of communication was far from disconnected, 

functional and detached, but rather was personalised, engaging and affectively 

mediated.  The examples below suggest that students had the freedom to actively 

select tutors who they were most compatible with their ‘natural attitude’: 



 15 

 I found them [tutors] 100% helpful… if you found you were not 

getting on with them or you found they were no support you were 

allowed to change. (Participant 3) 

 

We were actually told that you could ask for someone else if there was 

a problem with a tutor, which I think was great. As it happened, I 

didn’t need to (Participant 12) 

 

While the support from tutors was found to be generally good, it was nonetheless 

mediated by a range of possible technologies. This suggests that technologies might 

actually facilitate rather than undermine value-based interpersonal communications: 

You were given a contact number that you could telephone at any time 

and leave a message, you were given their mobile number, e-mail 

address or you could fax them and they would fax straight away . . . 

(Participant 3). 

 

The DE courses undertaken by some participants did have a limited number of 

tutorials, which also facilitated lifeworld experiences: 

I found the tutorials a great support, they actually made the course real, 

you actually meet other people who were doing the course and that was 

similar to the network that we were had in college. (Participant 4) 

 

Although all students were assigned personal tutors and, as indicated above, the 

nature of the relationship with these for many students was usually very satisfactory, 



 16 

this was not always the case. There is some suggestion in the following extract that 

the mode of communication (telephone), and the openness of time schedules within 

DE contributed to the problem: 

I felt I was annoying them when I rang them. I always felt that I rang 

them at the wrong time…  I felt they were supportive but at the same 

time they would say sorry you feel like that. I did not feel that they 

came up with any solution to my problem …  In fairness, they tell you 

to ring them as much as possible … maybe it’s just me . . .I got to the 

stage where I felt I should know this and they probably feel I haven’t 

got a clue. (Participant 2) 

 

Lifeworld ceded 

Although there appears to be a general assumption that a rounded, interactive 

educational system is superior to a functional, outcome-oriented one, not all 

participants bemoaned a limited lifeworld. While 11 participants missed aspects of an 

educational lifeworld, almost one third (n=4) of these simultaneously identified 

positive dimensions to being largely released from it. Four more participants stated 

that they did not miss the lifeworld experience at all:  

I didn’t miss the class work at all, because I find a lot of the time in 

class is wasted by other people perhaps bringing in their grievances 

from work into class, it wastes a lot of time … I actually went to one 

tutorial in … I found I preferred to be studying on my own and if I 

wanted support, I had the tutor at the other end of the telephone 

(Participant 1) 



 17 

 

I know people go on about how it’s becoming a faceless society, but 

really, e-mail is brilliant. It’s fast and … the person can open and 

answer it in a time that suits them… you don’t feel you are wasting 

people’s time (Participant 9) 

 

I actually used to drive for nearly 3 hours on a part-time course every 

week, and you’d get there and, OK, there were good lectures, but to be 

honest, it wasn’t worth the drive…  Well I think you would get more 

done just concentrating on the reading materials and getting on with 

the coursework (Participant 14) 

 

There is a suggestion in the extracts below that engagement with aspects of the 

educational lifeworld may be more important at specific stages in a person’s life 

compared to other stages: 

I think if I was younger, if you were a real typical student I mean that 

is ideal at the time and I would not like to be isolated at that stage. I 

feel having done general training and other different courses and 

diplomas, you are more educated your self and you're more 

disciplined, you know the score, you know the scene of what is going 

on. (Participant 3) 

 



 18 

When I left school, I would have loved to go to college… I have 

missed out on that anyway. I’m settled with responsibilities so taking 

part in College life – it was too late for me (Participant 15) 

 

There was a sense among some that they were satisfied to relinquish the educational 

lifeworld because of the time demands from other dimensions of the lifeworld: 

 

I was glad that I could just get on with it. It’s not that I didn’t want 

contact with others while I was doing the course, it was just that there 

are so many demands. Work, and I have three kids …  my mother had 

a stroke and needed a lot of care (Participant 9) 

 

I sort of felt that I did the course for myself. Attending and being in 

touch with others like a normal course would be have been wonderful, 

but it would’ve been a luxury for me …  If I had done it the other way, 

it would really have affected the family routine, our holidays, and I’d 

never expect that (Participant 10). 

 

Learning within a bounded system 

All participants elaborated on the nature of the DE programmes that they had 

completed (the system component), describing these predominantly as circumscribed, 

bounded programmes with lectures and reading material provided. This contrasts with 

attendance programmes, where students are required to attend and listen to lectures, 

make their own notes from these, and search for and photocopy or electronically 



 19 

download reading material. The standardised input received in DE courses, where all 

students received standardised technologically-mediated materials, generally appealed 

to students because it was an efficient and efficacious way of achieving ends in a 

limited time: 

The course content and course design is excellent, they send you all the 

reading materials, they send you articles, you don’t have to do that 

much searching…  You do have to do a bit of research but everything 

is there, you read your articles and you get discussion documents. 

You're nearly spoon-fed. (Participant 4) 

 

The course content basically consisted of two folders one which was 

the course material and the second was the handouts and all the 

relevant research relating to what ever topic you were studying.  

(Participant 3) 

 

Although generally regarded in a positive way (by 12 of the 15 participants), there 

were some mixed feelings about the boundedness of the programmes, with one 

student suggesting that additional reading was not encouraged, and another believing 

that there was a sufficient amount of course material supplied: 

The course design was excellent and the course content was 

brilliant…but it didn’t allow for expansion… when they send you the 

course work and the course books, you had to use those because it said 

with reference to course books. You were not encouraged to do wider 

reading. (Participant 5) 



 20 

 

I can’t complain about the quality …and I do get extra stuff… they do 

give you a lot of off prints as well. They also give you a reference list 

but they also give you the actual articles you can read as well. It’s 

more than enough. (Participant 2) 

 

In spite of being a bounded system, some participants reported that the course content 

facilitated development of their critical thinking skills: 

I have to say that thinking for yourself was stressed, and the stuff really 

got me to see things differently (Participant 15) 

 

I have to admit that I was surprised at how I began to think differently 

about things. There was a lot of academic bullshit in the course but 

also some really good readings that gave me a whole new perspective 

on things. I found that very satisfying (Participant 6) 

 

Overall, the data suggests that learning within a bounded system was reported 

favourably by participants. 

 

DISCUSSION 

The study findings broadly concur with those of existing studies, in which students 

were found to experience isolation while undertaking a distance learning course 

(Cragg 1994a, 1994b, Ryan et al. 1999, Carnwell 1998, Price 2000, Leasure et al. 

2000). However, our data indicated that participants' lifeworld experiences of DE, 



 21 

albeit very limited, were generally very positive. Although critics of DE have pointed 

to the limited scope for learning offered by ‘packaged’ programmes (Coulter 1989, 

Keegan et al. 1985), our participants generally expressed satisfaction with quasi-

circumscribed standardised courses.  Moreover, some who expressed a sense of 

seclusion from the full experience college life at the same time valued the time and 

space that a restricted educational lifeworld freed up for alternative experiences. 

These alternative experiences comprised both system and lifeworld dimensions, and 

included paid employment, childcare, elder care, and leisure time. What this suggests 

is that educational lifeworld experiences may be less relevant as one ages, as broader 

life experiences infiltrate the 'symbolic space' where meaning, solidarity and personal 

identity are expressed.  

 

Thus, although participants valued the autonomy and flexibility of DE, the 

implications of individualised learning need to be considered. Although some 

considered that their programmes encouraged critical thinking, the scope for dialogue 

and debate about the nature of the knowledge being presented was clearly curtailed. 

Weldon (1995: 13) notes the diversity in meaning of the word ‘critical thinking’ in 

educational circles. He suggests that its meaning in contemporary educational 

discourse relates to processes of validating arguments, and that this pseudo critical 

stance serves to sustain the legitimacy of an unjust economic social and political 

system. A really critically-informed education ought to facilitate understanding of 

‘how ideological systems and social structures hinder and impede the fullest 

development of humankind’s collective potential to be self-reflexive and self-

determining human actors' (Weldon 1995: 14). Within the isolation of a DE 



 22 

programme, the scope for collective critical learning is potentially diminished by the 

lack of interactive learning, and participation in discourses. Collective action to 

challenge domination becomes highly difficult to achieve.  However, it must be 

acknowledged that an outcome orientation, rather than an aspiration of enlightenment, 

may be a feature of higher education more generally. In addition, individual needs and 

goals of learning must be considered.  Individual students may arrive at programmes 

with particular goals and orientations - some open to raising their consciousness for 

political transformation, others to improve their practice, and others still simply to 

succeed at examinations - irrespective of whether the programme is delivered through 

DE. 

 

Notwithstanding these individual needs and orientations, DE programmes are more 

deficient in opportunities for verbal communication, which is the central element to 

the transformational capacity of humans identified by Habermas (1984, 1987).  

Drawing on Habermas to explore the limitations of self-directed adult education 

Collins (1995:91) proposes that:  

The notion that the human capacity for speech signifies an innate 

potentiality for making practical decisions around reasonably presented 

arguments, free of coercion, provides a hopeful scenario for an 

emancipatory practice of adult education 

 

Much criticism of DE relates to specific reified, commodified programmes that rely 

on multiple choice questionnaires as a means assessment (Collins 1995). These are 



 23 

rooted in a highly instrumental rationality and include pre-packaged learning formats 

(Collins 1995).  

 

Theorists such as Brookfield (1993) have defended the emancipatory potential of self-

directed learning, and propose that it has an empowering potential. Delanty (1999) 

contends that the information age holds the promise of providing a discursive space to 

promote human autonomy and democracy.  In the absence of an analysis of the 

content of the programmes undertaken by participants in our study, it is impossible to 

establish to what extent such programmes were experienced as enlightening, 

empowering, or consciousness-raising.  Evidence suggests that subjects like sociology 

are taught in some nursing curricula, albeit in a conservative manner (Cooke 1993, 

Mulholland 1997). However, while the motivations of nursing elites to centralise 

caring and communication as dimensions of educational programmes have been 

associated with a self-serving striving towards professionalism and the development 

of nursing as a separate discipline (Witz 1992), post-registration nursing programmes 

in particular tend to value notions of holistic, human-oriented knowledge forms of a 

value-rational kind over knowledge forms mediated by purposive-rationality. 

Reflective practice (orientated towards consciousness-raising) and interpersonal 

issues (with a value-rational orientation) are topics that tend to be included in nursing 

curricula.   

 

On the one hand, it may be argued that the advent of DE has enabled large numbers of  

people to become enlightened, empowered and liberated. On the other hand, it may be 

viewed in terms of ‘learning for earning’ (Cunningham 1992:99), with an outcome 



 24 

orientation towards advancing economic achievements and personal gain. In this 

sense, DE might be constructed as the archetype of lifeworld colonisation within the 

educational sphere. Alternatively, it might be perceived to have emancipatory 

potential at a societal rather than individual level. For this to occur, the content of the 

programmes would appear to be very important, because consciousness-raising would 

rely almost entirely on students being inspired to act on the basis of their engagement 

with the substantive content of the programme. Further empirical research is required 

to explore the nature of students' engagement with DE programmes in terms of their 

transformative potential. 

 

Limitations 

This study is limited by the relatively small sample size. In addition, there are many 

different styles of DE being delivered at various institutions, and our study is limited 

because it did not evaluate the various styles against one another.  

 

 

CONCLUSION 

Nursing leaders are challenged to find the most effective ways of disseminating 

nursing knowledge to as wide a body of nurses as possible, in order to ensure the 

highest standard of nursing practice.  DE is one means of doing this. A better 

understanding of DE and how it is received by those pursuing it is important to enable 

it to become strengthened and to enable nurses to make choices about the various 

educational options available to them. Our data suggest that DE was a largely 



 25 

 favourable strategy for undertaking nursing programmes for mature students with a 

range of competing demands on their time. The challenge for nurse educators is to 

continue to work towards developing DE programmes that minimise drawbacks and 

maximise their potential. As technology becomes more sophisticated, new 

possibilities are opened up to make DE appealing to potential students, with the 

possibility of a wider dissemination of nursing knowledge. 

 

 

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