Practice teaching: professional identity and role recognition

Practice teachers have a significant role in
leading education in clinical practice and in the
preparation, assessment and ‘signing off’ of
post-registration specialist practice students at
the end of their programme. This paper reports
on the preliminary findings of a grounded
theory study which examined the perceived role
of the practice teacher from the perspectives
of relevant stakeholders. One-to-one interviews
were carried out with a purposively selected
sample of 21 participants. Data analysis took
place concurrently, codes and categories being
derived from the data. A focus group interview
was conducted further into the study with
six specialist practice nurse educators. Early
findings suggest that the role of a practice
teacher is operationalised differently both
within and across organisations and disciplines.
This confounds the professional identity of the
practice teacher and affects the recognition
that practice teachers are afforded for their
role. Role recognition appears to be key to
building professional identity. The development
of a clearer professional identity is essential if
educational preparation is to be tailored more
specifically to the needs of those undertaking a
practice teacher role.