Exploring Sociocultural Interactions and Influences Shaping Clinical Education

Clinical education involves teaching and training students in real-life clinical settings. Students may be supported by university staff and or clinicians at various hospitals or clinical settings. This qualitative, cross-sectional research was conceptualized and conducted through an interpretive lens by drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of Lave and Wenger’s Situated Learning Theory (SLT) and Communities of Practice (CoP). We set out to determine how sociocultural and contextual elements influence the learning experiences of final year Physiotherapy students during clinical placements. The findings signified that individual student attributes such as agency, educator attributes and the predominant culture of the clinical site greatly influenced student participation and clinical learning. These findings illustrate the intricate relationship between a “novice student” and “master educator” and how their interactions with others influence participation in a CoP.