What's the point of placements?

Although the clinical placement is a major component in the education of student speech and language therapists, there has been little research about the nature of the placement as a learning experience. This paper reports a study which elicited the views of participants in clinical placements organised by two universities. The results of a detailed questionnaire, completed by 45 final-year students, 173 clinicians and 15 lecturers revealed little agreement on the factors which were deemed most important for students' learning on placements. In summary: • Students valued: independent decision-making, clinical and general management skills and getting through/passing the course. • Clinicians valued: professional competence, clinical and general management skills and careers commitment. • Lecturers valued: interpersonal and social skills, clinical and general management skills and relating theory to practice. This apparent mis-match of perceptions could have major implications for the participants who may be unaware that they have different expectations for placement outcomes and yet are all involved in the assessment process. Some explanations of this disparity are explored. It is suggested that a strong influencing factor is the lack of coherent theories, either of therapy itself or the ways in which therapy is taught and learned. Current learning on clinical placements may be described as an apprenticeship in which students learn to follow clinical procedures passed down from the ‘master’ clinician. Absence of explicit theory ensures that participants' subjective viewpoints — rather than theoretical orientation — form the basis of the process of learning to become a speech and language therapist.