Relative distancing: A grounded theory of how learners negotiate the interprofessional

Abstract

Relative Distancing: a grounded theory of how learners negotiate the interprofessional Keywords: IPE, grounded theory, relative distancing, efficiency, identity. AbstractA number of extant educational, psychological and sociological theories have been suggested as possessing utility for interprofessional education (IPE). However, there is limited theory proposed that has been derived directly from data. This article adds to the theoretical toolkit by theorising from data using constructionist grounded theorising.This article discusses the grounded theorising of participants' approaches to IPE and describes the social process of relative distancing, a collection of strategies employed by participants to construct their own professional identities and negotiate their way through interprofessional interactions. The categories of relative distancing are conceptualised as 1) integrating the professional and the interprofessional; 2) constellating and maintaining distance; 3) tensioning and manipulating distance; and 4) the dimensions of distance. The first, and most theoretically integrative, category will be discussed in detail here. 2It was found that participants valued certain learning outcomes over others. They favoured learning opportunities that were perceived to be of direct relevance to their own professional development and contributed finite personal resources to these.Resources were committed to those interprofessional learning opportunities where relevance was perceived and the conditions of co-presence (with other professions) and a context for interaction were achieved. The discussion draws links between the data and contemporary discourses of economics and identity.

Using complexity theory to develop a student-directed interprofessional learning activity for 1220 healthcare students

“…Finally, peer marking (of videos produced by other teams) assisted students in developing evaluative judgement of their team performance compared to that of other teams. Green notes that when ‘students review the work of their peers, they invariably reflect back on their own work and consider ways of improving it…[as] before reviewing the work of peers, students will have already spent considerable time producing work in the same domain topic themselves’ [ 42 ].…”

“…Qualitative free text data from the questionnaire was analysed thematically [ 42 ]. Two researchers experienced in qualitative research (CJ and GN) undertook the initial analysis.…”

Content validation of an interprofessional learning video peer assessment tool

“…Within the higher education arena, peer assessment is a recognised learning and teaching strategy to develop student skills in giving and receiving feedback, reflective practice and accountability for personal learning [ 39 – 41 ]. Because students have spent considerable time producing their own work, when assessing others’ work within the same topic area, they begin to compare and contrast both pieces of work, invariably noting ways in which their own work could be improved [ 42 ], aiding student self-assessment and reflection [ 43 ]. Stone [ 44 ] suggested that peer assessment, in the context of IPL encourages cooperative learning, and should be weighted accordingly to signify its importance in the learning process.…”

Measuring attitudes towards interprofessional learning. Testing two German versions of the tool "Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale" on interprofessional students of health and nursing sciences and of human medicine

“…Nevertheless, attitudes and stereotypes with respect to colleagues in one’s own profession or in other professional groups are looked on as important factors for the success of teamwork [8]. The attitude towards interprofessional learning represents a prerequisite that promotes learning achievement and the development of one’s own professional identity as opposed to the other professions in the team [9], [10]. …”