EDUCATION FOR CHANGE IN A POSTMODERN WORLD - REDEFINING REVOLUTION

Social and behavioural sciences are established components in the curr iculum of undergraduate nursing degrees. The purpose is to introduce f uture and practising nurses to the social and political influences whi ch inform their workplaces and practices, inevitably an awareness of t he structural barriers and the powerful political interests involved i n health can lead to feelings of powerlessness and despair of achievin g change. Yet the skills of critical analysis and political awareness developed in study such as this are essential for health workers in th e increasingly complex and politically charged domain in which they wo rk. This paper will explore problems and barriers encountered in devel opment of curriculum and teaching social and behavioural sciences in h ealth. It will propose an alternative conceptual model, based on post- structuralism, as one way of addressing these barriers. This approach shifts the focus from meta-theoretical sociological concepts such as c lass, gender and culture, to one of examining subject positions, disco urse, contestation and local action, thus enabling the exploration and development of possibilities for change. The paper will also provide a case study to illustrate this alternative approach.