Narelle Patton

Envisioning Visual Research Strategies

Visual research gives primacy to the visual, and through incorporation of images aims to develop deeper understanding of the lived experiences of research participants through critical exploration of often taken-for-granted experiences. Visual research strategies are increasingly being employed to explore and develop deeper understandings of human worlds, such as the worlds of children, adolescents, individuals with mental health problems and patients within hospitals (Radley & Taylor, 2003; Mizen, 2005; Prosser, 2007; Thompson & Ninci, 2008). This chapter briefly overviews the historical development of visual research from its origin in anthropology to its current and more widespread use.

Health Practice Relationships

This book, and this chapter, explore health practice relationships. This chapter sets the scene for the book and privileges the humanity and diversity of social and practice relationships that this title evokes. In Chapter 2 we turn to the topic of professional practice, placing this book predominantly in the context of Western orthodox medicine today, and we place the clients, support people and healthcare providers at the centre of our discussion.

Implications for Health Professional Education

The above vignettes are offered as an illustration of the critical influence of health practitioner education as well as health practice systems and cultures on shaping health practitioners’ professional practice. In particular, the significant influence of these systems and contexts on relationships in practice is illuminated. While these vignettes represent different people, they also demonstrate a trajectory that many health practitioners experience from entering professional health practice education to becoming a professional health practitioner.

Students Using Storytelling for Learning to Practise Together

The understanding of workplace learning as participation in authentic workplace activities underscores the importance of explicating the relational and collaborative nature of clinical workplaces in order to develop a deeper understanding of clinical learning.

Co-Writing Discourse through Practice and Theory

In this chapter we write from a stance that acknowledges the primacy of practice and at the same time we seek harmony between practice and theory so that each can inform and enhance the other in the pursuit of exemplary practice and rich, informed practice discourse. The primacy of practice is a concept that contends that practice comes first in the development of knowledge and that theory is developed from practice (Eisner, 1988).

Expectations and responsibilities

It is increasingly recognised that expectations are integral in determining the quality of health services, because expectations strongly affect people’s experiences of health services (AIHW, 2012, p. 32). The New South Wales Ombudsman is an independent body charged with watching over public sector and many private sector organisations and their staff to make sure that they “do their jobs properly and meet their responsibilities to the community” (NSW Ombudsman, 2014).

Access, Agency and Abilities

Central to health practice is the aim to use professional knowledge and capabilities in the service of others (Higgs, 2012). The inherent humanness of health practice highlights the importance of health practice relationships in shaping individuals’ access, agency and abilities for the achievement of meaningful health outcomes.

Clinical learning spaces: Crucibles for practice development in physiotherapy clinical education

ABSTRACT This paper, through a deep examination of clinical workplaces as learning spaces, uses a holistic interpretation of clinical education and offers a practice development crucible metaphor as a useful way to deepen how clinical education can be conceptualized. An in-depth conceptualization of clinical education is needed if educators are able to develop wise educational practice and optimize the time students spend in clinical learning settings. The research reported here was undertaken in the qualitative paradigm guided by philosophical hermeneutics. Data collection strategies included observation, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and photo-elicitation. Twenty-four undergraduate physiotherapy students and twelve physiotherapy clinical supervisors participated in this research. Consistent with hermeneutic principles of dialogue of question and answer and hermeneutic circle, data analysis was achieved through an iterative process of reading, interpreting and re-reading the transcripts resulting in the emergence of a deeper understanding of clinical education that is represented for the reader. Clinical education has been revealed as a multidimensional learning space where workplace influences, engagement in professional practices, clinical supervisors’ intentions and actions in combination with students’ dispositions interact to shape and challenge students’ clinical learning. A practice development crucible metaphor has been introduced as a way to represent this complexity and conceptualize clinical education, not as a set of techniques or supervision ratios but as a relational, fluid, complex space where learning is catalyzed. Importantly, the crucible metaphor assists academics, clinical supervisors and students to harness the power of clinical education to facilitate learning during clinical placements.

A Praxis Perspective

One of the strong and enduring themes in the discourse on professional practice is praxis. At the core of professional practice lies the ethical aim of achieving optimal outcomes for clients in their unique situations. In this chapter the contribution of praxis to the professional practice discourse is explored through the work of two key writers in this field: Stephen Kemmis and Jane Wilkinson.

Practice communities and leaders

In this chapter, we explore notions of practice communities and practice leaders, seeking to illuminate how, and to what extent, different voices are shaping contemporary practice discourse. We use the term “practice communities” to include all who contribute to the evolution of practice through actively instigating change and employing constraint: practitioners; neophytes; society; those with whom who we practice; accreditation bodies; policy-makers and, managers.