Last week I finished my 8 day placement and was able to on my final day reflect on me, my performance on the placement and my practice as a student SLT . However, having had my final appraisal with my practice educator (of which went very successfully) I realised that I could reflect on practice educators and styles of supervision over my past placements.
On my latest placement I had a supervisor who was really good at letting me take the lead in my clients journey, having told her that I wanted an opportunity to be autonomous and independent. I was able to leave comprehensive clinical notes, email her and on occasion track her down and have face to face conversations when I initiated. During this placement I really grew as a student SLT and even in some ways as a SLT. However, I was surprised on my final assessment for her to be so fully aware of everything I had done and all my successes, including having gained feedback from staff I had been working with. Whilst I did not feel I needed her around any more than she already was, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how active she had been behind the scenes following me through my placement.
Compared to this, my last block placement I had 4 therapists shadowing me (or me shadowing them in some instances) and of these 4, one was my practice educator. I was with her 1 day a week for 5 weeks and conducted all therapy in front of her, as well as having her review all clinical case notes and reports with me. Whilst she was a very hands on therapist, I felt the final assessment was not fully holistic of my performance with all the therapists, as well as with her. She gave me feedback that she had noted and whilst her feedback was very useful, I felt I lacked input from the other 3 therapists. Despite this, I returned to University the following week to be greeted by my tutor who stated that my practice educator had rang the university to tell them how successful I had been on my placement and that they would not hestitate to have students from Essex again.
If I compare this again with my very first SLT supervisor, she was very hands on, it was just the 2 of us in therapy every second of the day together. She gave me brilliant points at my final assessment, but little indication of areas to develop despite having observed me hands on for 8 days.
Overall, I have enjoyed experiencing many different supervisors, and many different ways of supervision and have grown through each of these. I have been very lucky to have such wonderful placements, with such wonderful supervisors though each different in their own ways.
Therefore, this really got me questioning which style of placement supervisor/practice educator is most effective for students? It is all a very personal experience and I wonder if hands on works best for some, but not for others?
Do some students prefer more positive feedback, whilst others prefer more structural areas to develop?
Having done some reading for my research proposal in the area of clinical placements, I am aware that there are many ways for a supervisor to conduct their student placements. Though I wonder, do supervisors change their ways of conduct dependent on the student? Or is it the student that is flexible to the supervisors ways?
Any comments/tweets about this are much appreciated, I would love to have an insight from students and clinical placement supervisors.
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