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Clinical
Experience
(Clinical)
This is the level of the
clinical work that is the
subject of discussion, but
also the ultimate aim of the
teaching and learning, in
that this is intended to
develop the clinical work of
the students.
Chapter Seven – A Discussion – Page 219
The Learning
Group (Group)
This includes the subjective
experience, conscious and
unconscious, expressed and
interpreted, of participants
in the learning group (11
individuals), two obvious
sub-groups (2 staff and 9
students), and the Group-
As-A-Whole (1 group, 11
members).
Table 7.2 – The Reference Locator
The Task for
Learners (Task)
This is the task of the
semester and the course, to
bring about learning by the
students which leads them
towards the learning
outcomes for the course.
I am calling this device a Reference Locator, in the sense that it offers a range of
locations that may be pertinent at any time. In the case of the learning group, Clinical,
Task and Group are three powerful foci, and as will become clear below, it is possible
using them to track the shifts in focus during an episode of interaction.
Taking the example of Kelly’s presentation in the previous session discussed above, it
seems likely that the spontaneous interactions of a child with his therapist (the content
of the ‘Clinical’ column on that occasion) then evoked more personal material within
many of the students and in the learning group (the ‘Group’ column). Ideally the staff
and the group can make use of reflections on this experience to accomplish the learning
task (the ‘Task’ column). This can be accomplished in relation to the group
(Group/Task), but also more directly by the students, in their work but reflected in their
clinical discussion (Task/Clinical).