Praxis and reflexivity for interprofessional education: towards an inclusive theoretical framework for learning

Abstract

While there is growing evidence of theoretical perspectives adopted in interprofessional education, learning theories tend to foreground the individual, focusing on psycho-social aspects of individual differences and professional identity to the detriment of considering social-structural factors at work in social practices. Conversely socially situated practice is criticised for being context-specific, making it difficult to draw generalisable conclusions for improving interprofessional education. This article builds on a theoretical framework derived from earlier research, drawing on the dynamics of Dewey's experiential learning theory and Archer's critical realist social theory, to make a case for a meta-theoretical framework enabling social-constructivist and situated learning theories to be interlinked and integrated through praxis and reflexivity. Our current analysis is grounded in an interprofessional curriculum initiative mediated by a virtual community peopled by health and social care users. Student perceptions, captured through quantitative and qualitative data, suggest three major disruptive themes, creating opportunities for congruence and disjuncture and generating a model of zones of interlinked praxis associated with professional differences and identity, pedagogic strategies and technology-mediated approaches. This model contributes to a framework for understanding the complexity of interprofessional learning and offers bridges between individual and structural factors for engaging with the enablements and constraints at work in communities of practice and networks for interprofessional education.

Perceptions of residents, medical and nursing students about Interprofessional education: a systematic review of the quantitative and qualitative literature

“…Several studies found that students see the benefits of shared learning [45, 46], specifically medical students see the advantages at an early stage of their training [24, 30], followed by a decline in readiness for IPE [23, 24, 47]. Students who had undergone Shared Learning followed by an IP clinical placement had better attitudes or more readiness for IPE in comparison with only or no Shared Learning experience [23, 48].…”

“…[30, 32, 40, 47, 49, 58, 61, 65] A post-intervention interview, focus group or writing assignment offers the student an opportunity to reflect on the interprofessional experience, as was done in 16 studies. [25, 27, 32, 34, 37, 43–45, 51, 53–55, 65, 69, 71, 72] More than 15 different instruments or their adaptations were applied in the 65 studies in this review (see Additional file 1). Twenty-one studies had student-led wards or standardized patients.…”

Scottish healthcare student's perceptions of an interprofessional ward simulation: An exploratory, descriptive study

“…Gilligan, Outram, and Levett‐Jones () reported that the most memorable learning occurs during placement simulated IPE, which could be a logical opportunity. Dewey's theory of experientialism (Hutchings, Scammell, & Quinney, ) asserts that the meaning of an action is related to its consequences. Accordingly, experiencing the consequences of actions during a simulation in a safe environment could produce learning.…”

Mindfulness fostering of interprofessional simulation training for collaborative practice

“…Second, the nomological net of constructs pertinent to IPE training complements that of mindfulness 15. For example, constructs identified as impactful for IPE outcomes include reflexivity,16 openness to experience17 and experiential learning 18…”