Video-triggered professional learning for general practice trainers: using the ‘cauldron of practice’ to explore teaching and learning

ABSTRACT

Many clinicians who take on a formal role of supervising or teaching trainees need to be taught how to teach and then continuously improve as educators. We describe the research-informed design of a novel professional development intervention that may be perceived by clinical educators as challenging, but being based on the key features of effective professional development is likely to lead to changes in their teaching practices. The video-club brings together a small group of clinical educators who have a shared interest in exploring their educator role and their teaching practices. It supports their learning through collective inquiry, using video-recordings of their authentic teaching practices as stimuli for discussion. A pilot has produced findings that are promising in terms of outcomes and impact. Participants responded to the educational design in the way that was envisioned and engaged with the requisite risk-taking and vulnerability that was necessary for their own learning and promoting learning for others.

KEYWORDS:

• Faculty development
• medical education
• reflective practice
• video-based education
• intellectual candour

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the GP-supervisors and video-club facilitators who participated in the research. We would like to acknowledge Associate Professor Margaret Bearman for her critique of the orientation for video-club facilitators and Professor John Loughran for his practice wisdom and academic expertise, who enthusiastically encouraged the use of video as a means of improving the practice of teaching and learning.

Consent

Consent to participate was gained from all participants, including an understanding that data collected will be used in published findings.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data deposition

The dataset collected during the study will not be publicly available. A condition of the study’s ethical approval is that the raw data is only seen by the members of the research team.

Supplementary material

Supplemenatal data for this article can be accessed here.

Notes

1. Our final meeting also ran for ninety-minutes to allow for some ‘adjourning’ and research-related activities.

Additional information

Funding

This study is funded by a competitive Education Research Grant from the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Department of Health. ACRRM reviewed the proposal but had no role in the design of the study, nor in the writing of this manuscript.