Dr Joshua Pate has a deep interest in complex and chronic pain, and has explored the topic through a number of different avenues including his research, a TEDx talk, in articles and podcasts, and even through his own series of children’s books. Now Joshua is being recognised for his innovations in crafting effective learning experiences for physiotherapy students with an AAUT citation. We had a chat with Joshua about the award, learning experiences, and why it’s so important for physiotherapy students to understand how to treat pain.
Congratulations on receiving the AAUT citation. Could you tell us a little about the work you are being recognised for?
Thanks! The award is for ‘creating impactful research-led curriculum for physiotherapy students to learn a whole-person approach to chronic pain management’. My main research and teaching focus is on the complexity of chronic pain. It’s exciting for me to be able to directly connect the research and teaching aspects of my job. I think this is not only more rewarding for me, but my students report that it’s useful for them too. For example, some of the case studies we use in the pain neuroscience subject in the UTS Master of Physiotherapy course relate to multidisciplinary pain clinics, and this is where I have worked clinically and conducted research projects over the past decade.
We have threaded a single complex case study through four different subjects, so it’s nice to explore such real-world case studies in depth with my students. Ideas like “a whole person approach” can then more fully come to life, rather than being taught as only a theoretical framework.
Why is it important for physiotherapy students to focus on chronic pain management?
The main reason that Australians seek physiotherapy care is because of pain. And so our postgrad students at UTS have some prior expectations that they will navigate people’s experience of pain. But what motivates me is that the latest science underpinning pain has grown and progressed a lot in last couple of decades, and so there are huge societal misconceptions and varied expectations to explore. To me, this all makes facilitating people’s learning about pain a really important role!
I should also mention that physiotherapists also work with people challenged by a range of chronic conditions, not only pain. Therefore, teaching the neuroscience underpinning mechanisms of chronicity in the nervous system can provide a broad foundation for other skillsets too.
What do active and authentic learning experiences look like in your classroom?
I immediately contrast the word ‘active’ with ‘passive’ – our students are not passive recipients receiving some sort of knowledge transplant. They are building upon previous frameworks experientially. And so, for me, classrooms (both lectures and tutorials) are very dynamic – involving group work, a mix of different duration tasks, and anonymous live polls to ensure everyone feels heard (particularly early in each semester when the loudest voices can dominate!) – all of which is couched in case-based learning. That’s the ‘authentic’ bit in your question!
Student feedback has highlighted to me that narrative-driven learning via stories makes a whole lot of sense for an experience as complex as pain. Many, many factors are changing the volume of the experience in each and every moment. To bring all of this together, I think I would describe this approach to learning as (1) lively, (2) variable, (3) interactive, and (4) story-based.
Do you have any tips for other ECRs who might be designing and teaching subjects?
Oh, I think it’s a unique journey for each educator. My main encouragement would be to keep trying to increase your curiosity. Commit to work that you will probably feel proud of. My experience working alongside many academics is that these attitudes appear more important than concrete tips like “leave some time for questions”. If you’re curious, and you facilitate a safe learning space, of course there’ll be time for your students to ask questions! I hope that readers find this encouraging, and I’m happy to collaborate if people wanted to reach out. Thanks for having me!