Practice educators’ experiences of facilitating and assessing student values and ethics learning: constructing dialogue

Abstract

This study explored the experiences of practice educators in facilitating and assessing student values and ethics learning. Three practice educators in the North of England were invited to explore their experiences through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Responses were coded using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Interventions to manage discontinuities between students’ personal and professional values were explored alongside the rationale for holding these two as separate entities. Using a pedagogically informed concept of professional self-location, findings that illustrate both difficulties and successes with these strategies are presented within two major themes, Conceptualisations of Personal and Professional Values, and Constructing Dialogue. The critical functions that dialogic learning serves in the practice educator repertoire are discussed, along with recommendations for the training, support and continuous professional development of practice educators.

Keywords:

• Practice educator
• Values and ethics
• Self-location
• Dialogic learning
• Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis