Fieldwork education : putting supervisors’ interpersonal communication to the test

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dc.contributor.author De Beer, Marianne
dc.contributor.author Vorster, Charl
dc.date.accessioned 2013-10-11T06:16:29Z
dc.date.available 2013-10-11T06:16:29Z
dc.date.issued 2012-04
dc.description This paper is based on the research at the University of Pretoria for the PhD in Occupational Therapy. en_US
dc.description.abstract Various factors have an impact on the development of the clinical reasoning skills of occupational therapy students during their training. The aim of this study was to investigate how the interpersonal communication skills of the supervisors impact on their students’ ability to learn clinical reasoning skills during their education in the physical field. Thirty final year students at the University of Pretoria and 14 supervisors from six different hospitals formed the study sample. A mixed research design was employed. Data were collected by means of focus groups and one-on-one interviews conducted with fieldwork educators and students on their inter-subjective experience of supervision. It was then analysed by a clinical psychologist using the Interpersonal Pattern Analysis diagnostic instrument, and finally compared with the grades students obtained for their clinical reasoning skills in the final practical exam in the physical field. The findings of this study indicated that the supervisors of students who received good grades, were predominantly linear in their approach, showed limited empathy and confirmation, were rigid in their expectations and solved problems effectively. Supervisors of students who received lower grades were mainly circular in their approach, were flexible and partly empathetic, validated students and also solved problems effectively. Regarding the interpersonal approach to human behaviour there is no one role or pattern of interaction that is more effective in all contexts. A style or a pattern that may be highly effective in one kind of relationship may be ineffective in another. What is emerging here is that a style which is characterised by flexibility and empathy is not necessarily an effective teaching style, whereas one characterised by a linear approach, rigidity and limited empathy may prove to be significantly more effective. en_US
dc.description.librarian am2013 en_US
dc.description.librarian ay2013
dc.description.uri http://www.otasa.org.za/otasa_journal/index.html en_US
dc.description.uri http://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/24770 en_US
dc.identifier.citation De Beer, M & Vorster, C 2012, 'Fieldwork education : putting supervisors’ interpersonal communication to the test', South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 21-26. en_US
dc.identifier.issn 0038-2337
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/32002
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher OTASA : Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa en_US
dc.rights © SA Journal of Occupational Therapy en_US
dc.subject Fieldwork education en_US
dc.subject Supervision en_US
dc.subject Clinical reasoning en_US
dc.subject Interpersonal pattern analysis en_US
dc.subject Occupational therapy en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Clinical competence -- South Africa en
dc.subject.lcsh Occupational therapy -- Instruction and study en
dc.title Fieldwork education : putting supervisors’ interpersonal communication to the test en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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