UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 16 | October
18, 2001
Life's work revolves around family
Commitment is to teaching and developing caregivers
The dynamics of caregiving across generations sparks Nursing Assoc.
Prof. Clarissa Green's compassion and curiosity.
Educated as a nurse with a background in family therapy, Green
was initially attracted to UBC because she wanted to teach adult
learners as well as family nursing.
"My students appreciate my professional experience in the area
I teach," she says. "I've maintained a professional practice with
families throughout my academic career."
Her clinical practice and research focus on intergenerational
stress, a growing demographic circumstance that spawned the term
"sandwich generation" to describe middle-aged adults raising children
as well as caring for aging parents.
Experiential and interdisciplinary learning have been the hallmarks
of her teaching as she has involved students in interdepartmental
projects designed to address emerging community needs.
One such endeavour is the certificate program she co-developed
in 1996 -- Counseling and Working with an Aging Population. The
seven-month, part-time program is offered by Continuing Studies
Women's Resource Centre (WRC).
She is currently co-developing Widowed Journey, a community-based
project to address issues faced by growing numbers of widows and
their families.
She also helps others improve their teaching through the UBC Centre
for Teaching and Academic Growth.
Among the most striking and positive changes she has noticed at
UBC is increased age, race and gender diversity among students.
A less positive change, she feels, has been the manner in which
communication technology and larger classes, while essential, also
tend to reduce contact with students.
"I miss that," she says. "Lively face-to-face interaction with
students ensures that I keep learning."
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