Effective Clinical Teaching Behaviours from the Perspective of Students, Supervisors and Teachers

Abstract

<h2>Summary</h2> The purpose of this study was to identify behaviours of clinical supervisors which were perceived as most effective in facilitating learning in the clinical setting. A total of 250 final-year physiotherapy students, clinical supervisors and teachers in nine schools in the UK responded to the survey. The ratings suggest high relevance of the item pool. Although the subjects unanimously agreed that the identified behaviour characteristics were important, significant differences were observed for certain items between the teachers, supervisors and their students. Some explanations are provided for the observed differences. The supervisor behaviour rated highest was ‘carrying out physiotherapy practice with competence' while ‘regarding the students almost like another therapist' produced the lowest concordance among the respondents. The results show that linking professional, andragogic, interpersonal and communications skills is the key to effective and successful clinical teaching. It is suggested that the instrument could be used as a diagnostic tool by the supervisors as well as being used as the basis for curriculum planning for formal preparation of future clinical supervisors.