“I really enjoy making connections with the residents and team members in the Long-Term Care home. It allows me to feel a part of their team, and for them to become part of ours! I get a chance to integrate the mission, vision, values and aspirations of the Long-Term Care home into our daily activities. Our [Post-Secondary Educator] outcomes are based on a solid curricular foundation with these important threads included. Having the Living Classroom in the same building as the Long-Term Care home creates an open line of communication and a chance for reciprocal learning.”
— Amy Stiles, Living Classroom Coordinator (2013-2017), Conestoga College, Village of Riverside Glen, Guelph
“Students that we have hired [from the Living Classroom program] have been phenomenal – they get what we are going for, they understand resident-centred care, they understand interprofessional collaboration where other people, not having that kind of experiential education, are a little behind on that.”
— Long-Term Care team member
“I definitely learned more hands on than I did from a book or a teacher.”
“I like the idea. It is nice because it is closer for me and it is in an actual retirement facility to show us what it is really like.”
— Students in the Living Classroom
“As a Chair, success with a Living Classroom has three aspects: increasing the opportunity for students who might not have been able to come to the main campus to gain this education; ensuring alignment of program delivery with overall standards of the college program and services; and facilitating sharing of experiences from the Living Classroom with the main Personal Support Worker program and vice versa.”
— Lynn Voelzing, former Chair, Nursing, School of Health & Life Sciences and Community Services, Conestoga College
“Informal and formal engagement with residents and staff create this unique learning experience. I look forward to the Annual Program Reflection process with my colleagues at the main Doon Campus to share current care practices at University Gates and new resources for learning in curriculum for all Personal Support Worker and PN students.”
— Sharon Clarke, Living Classroom Coordinator, Conestoga College, the Village at University Gates
“In a Living Classroom, there are lots of new learnings from the Village of Riverside Glen teams and resident and family interactions. All of this can be incorporated into the curriculum and program delivery approaches.”
— Post-Secondary Educator faculty
“I am proud to be part of the Living Classroom in a different way. I am a Registered Practical Nurse at the Village of Riverside Glen, working within the role of team lead and caregiver, but I am also a Practice Application Specialist with the Conestoga College Living Classroom. Within this role I have the opportunity to share my experience, knowledge, confidence and passion with Personal Support Worker students — members of the health care team, who provide frontline care.”
— Timothy Hutten, PN, the Village of Riverside Glen
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