You don’t need to know it all

So this week’s theme is “You don’t need to know it all”.  For those of you who have been pretending for the last 6 weeks of this placement, I’m sorry I didn’t write this sooner!!  Here are the comments from 3 of the nominees for the 2013 Roster of Honor (who collectively have 71 years of experience so in my opinion know a lot):

“[One of] the first things that comes to mind is a willingness to admit that I do not know all the answers and that we will figure it out together”

“It's okay to say you don't have the answer to something that they ask- we OT's can't know everything about everything! I'll say let's check it out together or ask them to look up the information and share it with me.”

“I had not had a student for a few years and was quite uneasy about my ability to be an educator.  Because of this, I made sure I shared this with my student, and when she stopped and asked questions of me, I allowed myself to stop and reflect and research the WHY behind my current clinical reasoning skills.  I was not feeling like an expert clinician despite [many] years of practice but realized that sharing clinical reasoning and methods for problem-solving, I realized that I did have expertise to share.  So I would recommend that a first time educator be OK with not knowing every answer and not being an expert… Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”

So what is it about this strategy that works?  Here are my thoughts, for what they are worth…

  It creates a safe learning environment for the student. 

Students can be very uncomfortable with not having the right answer.  I still clearly remember my classmate in 1999 saying something like, “sharing your reasoning with your educator is like putting your knowledge on a platter to be judged”. 

Sharing that you don’t know something with someone who is ultimately evaluating you can be very stressful.  Yes, there are basic expectations of what the student should know, but it is unrealistic for them to know everything.  Knowing that their educator is human, makes mistakes, and doesn’t know everything can create a safe place for them to share what they don’t know.  

        You role model your thinking process.

For the students, being able to identify what you don’t know is important in developing their knowledge base and clinical reasoning. When you don’t know what you don’t know how will you know to find out?  This process comes more naturally for some than others, so it is helpful for students to see your thinking in action.     

        You role model life-long learning.

It’s not just the “I don’t know” but that it is followed up with, “what am I going to do about it?”  How do you sort this question out in the real world?   Where do you go for resources?  What’s great here is that this presents an opportunity for mutual learning.  For many clinicians, the students have stronger skills when it comes to finding the research for best practice.  They have something to offer you in this process.

So, if you’ve been pretending to know it all, you have my permission to stop the charade!  

Lisa