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Education Is a Social Process
“Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not preparation for life but is life itself.”
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As educators, we understand this well-rec-
ognized quote by philosopher and educator
John Dewey. We enjoy the social aspect of
creating and implementing learning experi-
ences for students. We urge our learner—be
they student, patient, or colleague—to set
aside his or her anxieties about learning. We
encourage them to revel in this opportunity
for growth, for this is, in fact, life itself!
This issue of the Journal of Physical Ther-
apy Education provides vivid examples of the
social nature of education in physical therapy.
Four authors in this issue address topics in
clinical education.
Coleman-Ferreira and Millar, Collins and
Mowder-Tinney, and Greenfield et al report
on inquiries into the development of clini-
cal instructors. Coleman-Ferreira and Mil-
lar assert that personal satisfaction is a major
motivator for clinical teachers. Collins and
Mowder-Tinney tested a unique model of de-
veloping clinical instruction skills in students
by apprenticing a more senior student with a
Jan Gwyer is a professor in the Doctor of Physi-
cal Therapy Division in the School of Medicine at
Duke University, PO Box 104002 DUMC, Dur-
ham, NC 27708 (janet.gwyer@duke.edu).
Laurie Hack is professor emeritus in the De-
partment of Physical Therapy at Temple Univer-
sity, 415 Gatcombe Lane, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
(lhack001@temple.edu).
Vol 26, No 3, Fall 2012 Journal of Physical Therapy Education 3
Jan Gwyer and Laurita Hack
–John Dewey
CI and a more junior student. Greenfield et al
queried experienced and credentialed clinical
instructors, and identified the importance of
a caring and incremental approach to teach-
ing students. Buccieri et al report on a new
instrument for evaluating directors of clinical
education to be used in a robust process that
seeks feedback from a variety sources. The
social process that supports and enhances
learning in any setting is clearly demonstrat-
ed in these papers.
Two groups of international authors con-
tribute to our knowledge of curriculum con-
tent and of student academic stress during
professional education. Heaney et al imple-
mented a survey of content related to psy-
chology in physiotherapy schools in the UK.
Their findings allowed them to pose an inter-
esting new question: Do PTs have sufficient
training in psychology to allow the biopsy-
chosocial model of health and well-being to
compete with the biomedical model? Tamar,
a faculty member in Israel, joined with col-
leagues from physiotherapy faculty in Swe-
den and Australia to report on levels of stress
and contributing factors in physiotherapy
students. Can you guess in which country
they found the lowest rates of stress in stu-
dents? Lee and colleagues report on 2 groups
of physical therapists, 1 with multiple and 1
with few international practice experiences,
to determine if the groups differ in their self-
assessment on APTA’s core values of social
responsibility and cultural competence. One
sees in each of these papers the importance of
social context in understanding teaching and
learning.
In this issue, Christine Baker, the 2012
Pauline Cerasoli lecturer, provides a thorough
review of new technology used in facilitating
learning from the classroom through con-
tinuing professional education and patient
education. Baker challenges us as educators
to continue to grow and incorporate effective
educational technology in our teaching. The
pace of change ever quickens, as Baker quotes
Beverly Bishop in 1970 who noted, “PT pro-
grams should embrace the ‘new’ technologies
of closed circuit television, making ‘teaching
videos’ for classroom use, among other uses.”1
As we begin our new fall semesters with
new and returning students, we might be
well-served to pause and remember that—for
us, as well as our students—education is life
itself, and we are fortunate to play a role.
REFERENCES
1. Bishop B. Innovations in teaching physical
therapy. Phys Ther. 1970;50(1):46-52.