What Do You Expect? A Comparison of Perceptions on the Roles of Clinical Educators and Graduate Clinicians

Abstract

In addition to explicitly defined pedagogical roles and responsibilities, shared perceptions of clinical educator and graduate clinician roles across both parties are essential for an effective supervisory relationship. Previous findings suggest subtle differences in expectations that could potentially impact the learning process. This study was designed to enable a within and across group comparison on perceived roles of supervisors and supervisees. A survey consisting of open-ended prompts, Likert-rating scale questions, and attribute rankings regarding their own and the others’ roles was completed by 90 clinical educators and 63 graduate students in speech-language pathology. Thematic analysis was the primary method of analysis; findings were compared with quantitative results. Although many perceptions were in agreement, subtle differences emerged regarding clinical educators’ role in facilitating learning and graduate clinicians’ role in promoting their own success. The findings in this study highlight subtle differences in expectations, that are useful for clinical faculty, educators and directors, as well as researchers in scholarship of teaching and learning for preparing graduate students to fully benefit from the clinical experience.