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Standards and Standardization

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Practice-based Learning in Higher Education

Part of the book series: Professional and Practice-based Learning ((PPBL,volume 10))

Abstract

This chapter explores the ways in which standards have impacted on the practice-based learning experiences of health students. Using a critical discourse analysis of standardization processes, the limitations placed by health service standards on the education of health students are illustrated. A description is provided of the ways in which these standards have become self-evident claims of best practice, together with expectations of compliance by health professionals and health students alike. The authors argue that the biomedical paradigm and ideology of economic rationalism have influenced what constitutes evidence-based ‘best’ practice standards, with a subsequent subordination of humanist discourses. The authors conclude by encouraging the development of innovative pedagogies for practice-based learning that promote critical thinking about the structures that support practice as well as the practice itself.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

    Dr Catherine Hungerford RN, PhD & Patricia Kench RN

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  1. Dr Catherine Hungerford RN, PhD
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  2. Patricia Kench RN
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Correspondence to Catherine Hungerford RN, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Canberra, Bruce, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Monica Kennedy

  2. Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia

    Stephen Billett

  3. University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Silvia Gherardi

  4. Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

    Laurie Grealish

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Hungerford, C., Kench, P. (2015). Standards and Standardization. In: Kennedy, M., Billett, S., Gherardi, S., Grealish, L. (eds) Practice-based Learning in Higher Education. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9502-9_5

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