JCPSLP Vol 16 no 3 2014_FINAL_WEB

consequence of this learning through research and the student’s being is changed. It is the individual practitioner who identifies research as a valued object, who constructs the role in his or her life to attain it and who determines whether it was worthwhile (Cusick, 2001, p. 15). Research is integral to being a practitioner-researcher and it is apparent that the honours students undergo a similar change. It’s been really beneficial to see the research that I’m reading and to look at the population I’m researching and the same things are coming out. It’s giving me insight into where the research needs to be. (Jess) So it’s not going to directly affect my practice but the aspect of research probably will, because I will keep on researching different areas. (Maria) The experience of honours will inform the student’s practice through the skills developed and knowledge gained. The acquisition of knowledge and skills however, cannot ensure learning for an unknown future. Learning experiences should afford the possibility of developing qualities in a student which enable authentic being (Barnett, 2004). Through the experience of honours, qualities such as courage, carefulness, criticality and resilience are nurtured, within the relative safety of research communities of practice, in order to allow these honours students to become novice practitioner-researchers. New perspectives As the honours students became increasingly immersed in their research, and particularly their data collection, changes in perspective began to emerge. Whether insight was facilitated by reading the literature and reflecting on practice, or through relationships with their research participants, the common focus of these new perceptions was clinical practice. Considering the intimate relationship between research and practice for these allied health students, this is not surprising, but it is pleasing to see that practice and research are mutually informed through honours. It’s given me more ideas about the way you could go in your clinical work. I quite often think about it when I see kids … you could do some research on that. I probably wouldn’t have thought about that before. (Emma) The development of empathetic relationships with their research participants facilitated new perspectives, as the students gained a deeper insight into the lives of people with end stage renal disease, stroke, diabetes, neurofibromatosis and children with a disability. You realise there’s bigger things than just your normal life. Knowing more about people’s experiences of life, being exposed to different coping styles and to different things that people have to deal with, makes you think about things differently. To have your eyes opened a little bit more than you would normally and share their experiences. That was a really nice aspect of the whole honours process. (Lauren) Maria’s perspective was changed not so much by the children she was researching, but by listening to the experiences of their parents and carers. I don’t know what it’s like to have to look at your child and say well I’ve bestowed this on him. I’m learning a lot from them [mothers]. (Maria)

Dadds (2008) discussed empathetic validity in practitioner research and this resonates with the experience of many of the honours students. Research that is high in empathetic validity “brings about new personal and interpersonal understanding that touches and changes hearts as well as minds” (p. 280). It is evident from the students’ experiences with research participants, that these relationships engender not only a shift in cognition, but have an emotional impact too. Experience of working with clients during workplace learning certainly affords all undergraduate allied health students the opportunity to engage with clients, and to develop a deeper understanding of individual life experience. The issue of time however, warrants further consideration. Honours compels students to make the time and space to explore an area of interest, and to engage with clients as research participants. As this time is protected in the sense that the student is unconcerned with delivering treatment in any sense, the honours experience has the potential to afford students with the time to talk, the time to reflect, and the time to develop new understandings. With clinical placements you don’t really have the time with someone and it’s all very clinically based. During honours I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to them and because they were in their own home, they felt a lot more comfortable and relaxed talking about it. I think time plays a big role because that enables people to relax and there’s no stress of I need to see another ten patients before lunchtime. (Lauren) Honours has the exciting potential to enable students to broaden their horizons, develop new perspectives on practice and attain new perceptions of life, informed by the experience of their clients. Practice–research nexus Praxis acknowledges that theory and practice are integrated and individual practitioners develop their own evolving personal theory about practice (Kilpatrick, 2008). The practice–research nexus is intrinsic to honours study and the students may struggle to find a balance between the priorities of clinical practice and research. Sometimes you’re just so focused on the research that you can’t see it, you forget about it [clinical practice] … it’s kinda like you can’t put it aside. Then when I go and do the clinics that I do, it puts it a bit in perspective. It depends on the setting and what I’m doing but I try and keep them together. If I keep in my mind that research is a separate thing and I don’t intertwine it with the clinical side of things, what’s the purpose of doing research? (Rachel) This is a fascinating insight into the potential tension between clinical practice and research. Honours students have limited clinical experience, but even less research experience, so it is not surprising that they may find it difficult to manage this complex juncture. Through the experience of honours, changing perspectives allow the students to analyse the relationship between research and practice. I think I have a better appreciation of research and how difficult it really is to do it and I think I really believe in evidence based practice from doing honours. Why are we doing what we’re doing [in clinical practice] and why is that better than doing something else? I think that’s really important. (Nicola)

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JCPSLP Volume 16, Number 3 2014

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology