Setting the Scene for Learning

There is an important period of time for the supervisor between completing the contract negotiations and thus making a commitment to the placement, and the day when the student actually arrives to begin the placement. We have called the work that should be undertaken during this period ‘setting the scene for learning’. This is the final opportunity for the supervisor to complete the necessary preparations for the smooth induction of the student into the placement and to provide the basis for a sound learning experience. This period may be as long as two months or more, but it may also be as short as only a few weeks. It is an opportunity to implement the commitments in principle which have led to the offer of the placement in the first place. Understandably, until the decision to take a particular student is made, the idea of a placement is a rather abstract one. The decision now has real implications, and the success or otherwise of the preparations for the placement will certainly affect the welfare of the student in the early stages. It may have a lasting influence throughout the placement.