CONTEXT/BACKGROUND The current Erasmus model used in Midwifery education is exclusive rather than inclusive because of the focus on clinical placement experience and exclusion of a group of students whose personal and financial situation makes it impossible for them to live in another country for a protracted period of time. Finding and evaluating new ways to widen opportunities in transnational learning and the development of intercultural sensitivity is an urgent priority. PROJECT AIM The aim of the TOTEMM project is to promote equity, social inclusion and participation of non-mobile midwifery students studying in England, Italy, Estonia and the Netherlands through the creation and implementation of a new inclusive mobility model based on a combination of virtual and physical mobility activities. A secondary aim is to investigate if the combination of virtual and physical mobility activities can develop intercultural sensitivity. PARTICIPANTS Four project leads, four midwifery educators and twenty midwifery students will be contributing to the development of one European midwifery introductory e-learning package and four virtual mobility e-learning packages on public health. Two technicians from the University of Nottingham will support the creation of the digitally innovative e-learning packages. Two intensive study programmes will be held with midwifery students (10x2 events) and academics (10x2 events) to provide them with the required knowledge about the public health topics and innovative technologies to be used in the development of the project. Two invited speakers with relevant expertise will present at each event. Twenty midwifery students from each country will participate in the virtual and physical mobility exchange activities (n=100), with one midwifery educator hosting the students travelling to each partner. Consultations with an advisory group of 7 people with relevant expertise will be undertaken throughout the project. 160 participants will be invited to the multiplier events (E1 and E2). A total of 437 participants ACTIVITIES Project activity 1 - Curriculum mapping for mobility activities, needs analysis and collection of baseline data Project activity 2 - Planning virtual mobility learning packages Project activity 3 - Development of a digital distant learning management system Project activity 4 - Creation of European midwifery introductory e-learning package Project activity 5 - Creation of four virtual mobility learning packages and physical mobility programmes Project activity 6 - Implementation of virtual and physical mobility activities within midwifery curricula Project activity 7 - Research and educational evaluation of virtual mobility packages and physical mobility activities Project activity 8 - Recommendations of use in terms of pedagogical aspects of an open innovative mobility model into midwifery curricula METHODOLOGY Midwifery students’ intercultural sensitivity, motivation, confidence, resilience, language development, communication, knowledge of the public health role of the midwife and team-work skills can be defined as soft outcomes. Baseline data of the above soft skills will be collected during the assessment phase prior to the students completing the virtual and physical mobility activities from which individual progress will be measured. The validated Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) assessment tool will be utilised to measure intercultural sensitivity (Chen and Starosta, 2000). A detailed evaluation project plan will be developed by the team as part of project activity 7 to measure the effectiveness of the model in helping midwifery students to improve soft skills and hard skills (e.g. the number of students undertaking physical mobility activities). Mixed-methods data collection and analysis methods will be employed. EXPECTED IMPACT AND LONG-TERM BENEFITS Midwifery students involved in the development, review and testing of the learning packages will gain significant benefits including stimulating creativity, improving team working skills, increasing knowledge of inter-cultural midwifery-related topics and showing personal and professional development by contributing to the creation of innovative higher education virtual learning resources in collaboration with international academics and IT technicians. The transnational collaborative context of the project will provide midwifery academics involved in the project with new perspectives on a) new ways of working with European colleagues b) achieving shared goals and delivering outputs as part of a big scale project; c) developing innovative thinking and creativity. A long-term collaboration with partner institutions from different European regions will be established by the TOTEMM study. A new model for midwifery student mobility and reusable open access e-learning resources will be made available to use by other higher education institutions, educators and students.
The objectives were to create a new blended approach to student mobility, incorporating pedagogically sound online resources for midwifery students, supplemented by a short period of physical mobility. The online resources and physical mobility were designed to enable peer learning and introduce midwifery students to maternity care in four European countries and contemporary topics that reflect the public health role of the midwife when providing care for women from different cultures. The objectives also included the development of a new collaboration for midwifery educators in four different institutions and countries. The project ran during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic that required adaptation to the circumstances of the pandemic, including the move to totally online working and adaptation of the pedagogical approach to the development of online materials.
The ERASMUS model used in midwifery education is not fully inclusive because of the focus on clinical placement experience that excludes students whose personal or financial situation make it impossible for them to work in another country for several weeks. This does not provide an equitable educational opportunity and it is important that this is addressed. Across Europe, midwives increasingly provide care for women from countries different to those in which they practice. This requires the development of intercultural awareness and sensitivity. Developing and evaluating new ways to widen opportunities in transnational learning and the development of intercultural sensitivity were urgent priorities. Public health is an important part of the midwifery role, common to different countries and a theme through which experience and learning can be developed.