Abstract

Clinical educators are experienced professionals who, in the course of performing their regular jobs, teach, supervise and assess students in a workplace-based practicum. Although research has identified problems in the ways clinical educators fulfill their roles and responsibilities, little is known of their daily experiences or how they prepare to teach, as well as the complexities of clinical settings that may contribute to these problems. Because clinical educators rarely receive any formal preparation in teaching methods and what little preparation they receive is voluntary, this study aims to understand the primarily informal learning processes (both micro and macro) by which these professionals become clinical educators and how these help them in their daily practice in their healthcare work settings.

This dissertation reports on an exploratory multiple case study where participants from four allied health professions serve as cases. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and documents. Several layers of analysis of the data, together with fieldnotes, yielded a model of the experience of becoming a clinical educator. The power of this model lies in that it emerged from the data gathered and is richly illustrated with the voices of the participants.

Findings from this research present the act of becoming a clinical educator as evolving through professional socialization in the workplace. It is embedded in the context of professional practice and is therefore best learned in this context of becoming and developing as a health professional. It is anticipated that this examination of teaching and learning in the healthcare workplace will add to the body of knowledge of workplace learning in healthcare settings, as teaching and learning in the healthcare workplace is a complex and individual experience. The model provides a way to conceptualize the practices of clinical educators, their development within the role, refinements in practice, and suggestions for future research.