What if I am the story? Using self-disclosure as a teaching tool

Abstract

Self-disclosure (SD) in teaching helps students link theory to practice, scaffold learning, show our human side (Rasmussen and Mishna, 2008), and encourage student−teacher interaction (Jebbour, 2018). Teachers must weigh the pedagogical risks versus rewards (Tobin, 2010), as negative SD can raise incivility in the classroom (Miller et al., 2013). Self-disclosures can be about ourselves or our practice experience (Rasmussen and Mishna, 2008). In nurse education, we frequently share stories from clinical practice. But what if I am the story?

After teaching neurodiversity to nursing students, I wanted to tell my own story of being autistic and having ADHD. I did not find the permission that I was looking for from the literature. Would this be ethical? Would my students see this as self-indulgent? Would self-disclosure allow neurodivergent students to feel included when their experience is often one of exclusion (Griffin and Pollack, 2009)? The idea of self-disclosure made me feel vulnerable. Following the disclosure, my students were shocked, but this led to discussions of harmful stereotypes and masking. Since my self-disclosure, my students see me as authentic, imperfect, and credible. Neurodivergent students seek me out for support. More importantly, my students understand more about autism and ADHD through my lived experience to apply this to clinical practice.

This presentation told my story of self-disclosure, how it felt, how the literature guided me, and how self-disclosure can be an effective teaching tool. I used objects as metaphors to tell my story like I did in my teaching.