JCPSLP Vol 15 No 2 2013

• drawing on existing clinical skills to support the supervision and education of students. Learning to be a clinical educator through reflecting on experience Key to the learning of participants was reflection on their experiences as both students and as CEs. As a starting point CEs reported learning from having been students themselves. Their own CEs and clinical placements were the role models and learning opportunities on which these participants based their own behaviour. I guess initially your formative sort of influences are the clinical educators that you had, or that I had, as a student. (Beatrice) And I have really entrenched memories of some of my clinical educators full of their very, very good style or their very, very poor style. (Marie) The role models to whom the participants referred had both a positive and negative impact but certainly shaped the participants’ perceptions of how a CE role should be performed. This finding is common in the clinical education literature (Bluff & Holloway, 2008) and is illustrative of how educators can shape the professional development of the student through the model they provide (Chivers, 2010). The participants referred to specific incidents in their own experience and reflected on how these had shaped them both as clinicians and later as CEs themselves. There were often challenging or critical incidents that had had a lasting impact on the participants: Horrible memories of it now unfortunately. Five years on, I can’t believe that these ladies are still impacting me. (Paula) It is notable that the majority of stories centred on negative experiences that both shook the participants’ confidence at the time and had a lasting impact on their memories of being a student. An underlying message was that, as students, the participants were left perplexed or upset when they felt things had not been explained to them clearly and rationally; this they felt undermined their confidence and their learning. As CEs themselves now, they asserted that they would act differently in working with students. The participants in this study also linked their own student learning experiences and preferences for learning explicitly to their current approach to supporting students themselves: I felt as a student I learned best when I wasn’t being watched so I always make sure that I give students some time on their own with clients to kind of relax and make their own mistakes rather than always be watched. (Aida) Marie described how as a student she valued a reflector type approach with her CE that allowed them to discuss the clients in a way that enabled them to learn together. Contemporary literature on adult learning in the professional placement setting recognises the value of both the CE and student engaging in a learning partnership in which the student’s contribution is valued (Ryan, 2005). The practical aspects of being a student on placement also impact on the learning experience and were identified as important factors. Participants remembered how tired

An inductive coding process, where codes emerge from the data (Coffey & Atkinson, 1996), was used in analysis. Initial coding for each participant’s data noted apparent themes and subthemes. These themes were then compared to, and collated with, themes from all interviews. The super- ordinate themes were then created, re-worked and refined and examples included from across the whole data corpus. Thus, a process of analysis and interpretation that worked both within and across all of the data sets was employed. In this type of thematic analysis the identification of themes and their categorisation is used to develop a conceptual understanding of the experience being explored (Butler- Kisber, 2010). Due to the small-scale, interpretative nature of this research, the findings are not claimed as generalisable and the subjectivity of the interpretation is acknowledged (Pring, 2000). However, it is hoped that the reader will find that themes and ideas discussed here will resonate with their own experiences and offer a space for critically reflective practice. What was important to these ten SLTs learning to be clinical educators? Thematic analysis of the participants’ stories yielded six over-arching themes, each of which is characterised by a number of subthemes (Table 2). These themes have been further distilled for discussion here into three super-ordinate themes: • learning through reflection on their own experiences as both a student and as a CE • a community of practice that offers opportunities for discussion with, and observation of, colleagues at work Table 2. Learning to be a clinical educator: Themes and subthemes identified in the data Themes Subthemes Reflecting on one’s own Critical incidents experience as a student Role models Learning on placement Impact on planning as a clinical educator Learning and growing through Critically reflective practice experiences as a clinical Feedback from student educator “Honing skills” Learning from challenging experiences The clinical context Drawing on SLT skills Transferable skills Being a critically reflective practitioner Advanced beginner to professional artist Imposter syndrome? Learning through Observation of colleagues in the CE peers/colleagues role Peer support Formal learning Clinical education training Post-graduate study/self-directed learning Transferable skills Further growth and role Lifelong learning models

Being a clinical educator as CPD Being a role model as a clinical educator Professional artistry/burnout?

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JCPSLP Volume 15, Number 2 2013

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology