TY - JOUR AU - Clouder, Lynn AU - Adefila, Arinola PY - 2016/02/05 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - The ‘Gift Exchange’: a metaphor for understanding the relationship between educator commitment and student effort on placement JF - International Journal of Practice-based Learning in Health and Social Care JA - IJPBL VL - 2 IS - 2 SE - Research Articles DO - UR - https://publications.coventry.ac.uk/index.php/pblh/article/view/321 SP - 54-64 AB - <p>‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to&nbsp;the eye’<br>Antoine de Saint Exupery (1900–1944)</p><p>It is a truism that a sound working relationship between student and practice educator is a&nbsp;major contributory factor to positive placement experiences for health and social care&nbsp;students. However, there is limited research that goes any further in explaining how this&nbsp;relationship is established and might work. This paper utilizes the metaphor of the ‘gift’ to&nbsp;emphasize the importance of generosity and reciprocity within the student/practice&nbsp;educator relationship. Qualitative research findings, generated from interviews with&nbsp;practice educators, reveal that whilst the educator gives the student the benefit of their&nbsp;expertise and provides access to opportunities to learn from practice, the student is&nbsp;expected to return this ‘investment’ by demonstrating that they too are putting in effort,&nbsp;for instance, by showing keenness to learn, and developing subject knowledge and skills.&nbsp;Although educators demonstrate a sense of obligation or duty to support students in their&nbsp;endeavours this commitment is not necessarily unconditional; reciprocal student effort is&nbsp;an important motivator for some practice educators for whom a demonstrable response to&nbsp;their input confirms their own sense of identity as educators and clinicians.</p> ER -