Aim: Occupational therapists frequently undertake the role of practice educator contributing to the development of the future workforce, however, little is known about how they effectively perform this role. This study aimed to elucidate students' perspectives on what makes an excellent practice educator. Method: Documentation for 124 Practice Excellence Commendations nominations by Queensland occupational therapy students for Queensland Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Collaborative awards between 2008 and 2011 were analysed. These were based on students' experiences on long block placements (five weeks or more) in their later years of undergraduate or masters' entry study. Written nominations addressing five selection criteria were de-identified and responses to each of these compiled. One independent coder and the two lead authors read the transcripts, identified coding categories and reached consensus regarding emerging themes using standard content and thematic analysis techniques. Results: Providing the 'just right' challenge was the overarching theme that symbolised excellence in practice education from students' perspectives. Three themes emerged that enabled practice educators to provide student support needed to balance the challenges of learning on placement; (i) valuing a reciprocal relationship; (ii) facilitating learning opportunities and experiences; and (iii) encouraging autonomy and independence. Conclusion: Findings provided insights into student perceptions about how excellent practice educators facilitated their learning while on placement. These insights can be used to inform practice educators who wish to enhance their supervision skills. Future research should focus on how the attributes of practice educators positively influence student learning outcomes.
IntroductionThe concept of`sustainable communities' has received increasing attention from academia and policy in recent years. Broadly framed within policy as``places where people want to live and work, now and in the future'' (ODPM, 2005a, page 4; see also 2005b), sustainable communities are intrinsically linked with the wider goal of sustainable development and the UK government's`place-making agenda'. The need for strong leadership and effective community engagement is frequently cited within sustainable communities policy (CLG, 2008; CRU, 2004; HCA, 2009). However, a lack of appropriate skills at the ground level as well as a need for a widespread understanding of what skills sets are necessary have been identified within UK policy discourse as significant obstacles to achieving sustainable communities (Newton et al, 2008a; ODPM, 2004;Turok and Taylor, 2006).The basic connection which has already been made in policy circles between making improvements to skills and knowledge for sustainability and making progress towards the creation and maintenance of sustainable communities holds considerable merit. However, the actual articulation of what sustainability skills and knowledge are, and the conceptualisation of how improvements should be made to skills and knowledge levels, remain weak. Furthermore, within England especially, the national policy focus has remained firmly orientated around the need to improve the skills sets of
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