Professional Experience Placement

Silbert, Lam, Henderson and Lake (2013) report on the value of teaching students to teach. They provide rationales for the implementation of  a peer-assisted learning (PAL) approach.  They advocate that teaching is a learned skill and students helping students are also learning from each other by learning themselves by teaching. Through using PAL students learn to teach and give feedback. Additionally, under supervision they have the chance to practise and consolidate these skills.

Part of the role of being a health professional is to provide patient or client education, and it is essential that students in the health sciences learn how to explain information in clear and effective ways. The authors indicated that the PAL approach also improved personal learning effectiveness and communication skills. other benefits included an increase in confidence and reduction in anxiety by students involved in PAL.

This paper discusses the implementation of the approach during an undergraduate medical curriculum and the authors discuss the merits of where within a course this process could be implemented. This paper raises the important issue of peer learning during clinical or professional experience for other health professions, especially nursing.

 The ANMC competency Standards (2006) state that nurses must have the ability to learn and teach others and themselves. It is well recognised that students already learn from each other, and also impart information learned within the university environment that is disseminated into the workplace. The notion of reciprocity is often reported by clinical supervisors who acknowledge that students can be a source of contemporary information.

It has also been documented that soon after graduation depending on the environment some new graduates are expected to teach students. Often graduates will teach by mirroring how they were taught. By providing a structure of learning and teaching there could be an increase in the capacity of the participants that could  flow into the workplace.  If the PAL approach could be added into the undergraduate curriculum it could provide support that will assist students to meet the competency standards and prepare them to be more work ready at graduation.

There are implications for clinical supervision because if PAL became part of the curriculum, clinical supervisors could utilise these skills to empower student learning. additionally, over time there may be opportunities for further developing workplaces as learning organisations (Senge 1995).

If you have any comments or experience of the PAL approach you are welcome to post them here.