TY - JOUR
T1 - Communities of practice
T2 - A theoretical framework for undergraduate longitudinal placements
AU - Kirtchuk, Liza
AU - Markless, Sharon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. The Clinical Teacher published by Association for the Study of Medical Education and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Background: There has been a global shift towards longitudinal placements in undergraduate medicine, which are believed to play an important role in supporting medical student learning and professional identity formation. A better understanding of how learning occurs on such placements is needed, and community of practice (CoP), a social learning theory, has been proposed to form their pedagogical foundations. However, empirical research exploring learning through CoPs on longitudinal placements is limited. Methods: Case study methodology triangulating data from interviews, written reflections and routine evaluations was undertaken to explore how second-year students on an undergraduate longitudinal General Practice placement participated within CoPs and the factors enabling this participation. Findings: Routine evaluation data were available for 57% (n239) of students and in-depth interviews were carried out with five students and three tutors across eight placements. Themes identified through inductive thematic analysis were (i) participation within CoPs, (ii) enablers of legitimate peripheral participation and (iii) socialising agents. Student legitimate peripheral participation was greatly facilitated by making contributions to patient care, a welcoming clinical environment, access to the informal spaces and repertoires of the practice and effective brokerage of educational activities by tutors. Discussion: CoP is a theory that allows us to make tangible the somewhat abstract when deepening our understanding of how students learn on longitudinal placements. The extent to which students become legitimate peripheral participants varies, and this theoretical framework allows us to consider the factors that can enable such participation, with implications for how educators design curricula and placement infrastructure.
AB - Background: There has been a global shift towards longitudinal placements in undergraduate medicine, which are believed to play an important role in supporting medical student learning and professional identity formation. A better understanding of how learning occurs on such placements is needed, and community of practice (CoP), a social learning theory, has been proposed to form their pedagogical foundations. However, empirical research exploring learning through CoPs on longitudinal placements is limited. Methods: Case study methodology triangulating data from interviews, written reflections and routine evaluations was undertaken to explore how second-year students on an undergraduate longitudinal General Practice placement participated within CoPs and the factors enabling this participation. Findings: Routine evaluation data were available for 57% (n239) of students and in-depth interviews were carried out with five students and three tutors across eight placements. Themes identified through inductive thematic analysis were (i) participation within CoPs, (ii) enablers of legitimate peripheral participation and (iii) socialising agents. Student legitimate peripheral participation was greatly facilitated by making contributions to patient care, a welcoming clinical environment, access to the informal spaces and repertoires of the practice and effective brokerage of educational activities by tutors. Discussion: CoP is a theory that allows us to make tangible the somewhat abstract when deepening our understanding of how students learn on longitudinal placements. The extent to which students become legitimate peripheral participants varies, and this theoretical framework allows us to consider the factors that can enable such participation, with implications for how educators design curricula and placement infrastructure.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176933333&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/tct.13692
DO - 10.1111/tct.13692
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85176933333
SN - 1743-4971
JO - Clinical Teacher
JF - Clinical Teacher
ER -