Interprofessional professional placements: mutual learning opportunities for students and supervisors

Introduction/background:Limited research has captured the perspectives of practice placement supervisors who facilitate interprofessional education placements about their learning outcomes, or their perspectives about other disciplines encountered in these contexts.Aim/objectives:This study explored the perspectives of Early Childhood Educators (ECE) who were interprofessional supervisors for speech-language pathology (SLP) students completing a clinical placement in a childcare setting.Methods:Two focus groups were conducted with seven ECEs who provided supervision for SLP students in two childcare settings. Four centre directors who managed the ECEs also participated in individual interviews. These gathered perspectives about the ECE’s learning outcomes from their interprofessional supervision experience. The interview data was analysed thematically, and findings were interpreted using the theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave and Wenger, 1991).Results and Discussion:The same five themes were identified from the ECE and Director data. These were: adjustment and support for students to learn; relationship is paramount; working and learning together; staff skill development; and holistic, child oriented approach. The students learned through participating in the everyday activities of the childcare environment and working alongside the ECEs. For the ECEs, this reinforced the value of their skills and facilitated the students to become legitimate members of their community. The ECE and Director participants identified that supervising the SLP students had facilitated their own knowledge and skills about children’s communication development which was a key placement learning objective for both students and ECEs. Participants therefore perceived that the learning for ECEs and students was mutual, reciprocated and beneficial.