5.2 Identifying and managing a failing student

Addressing performance concerns informally

Occasionally there will be times that a student is unfortunately not achieving the required standards and if current performance continues the student is likely to fail the placement. The sooner this is identified and addressed the less likely this will be the final outcome. There should never be a situation where a student is surprised that they have failed a placement. It is imperative that at the first signs that a student is not performing to the required standard, a dialogue with them as to their performance and the standard required needs to occur.

On identifying there may be a problem with a student’s performance, this needs to be addressed and must be carried out discreetly by talking to them informally and constructively as near to the time of the practice event as possible. Doing this can help the student reflect on their practice and make the adjustments required in future practice. Sometimes this approach may not work, and the student needs to be put into a formal process.

Addressing performance concerns formally

Formal intervention needs to be timely and carried out as early into the placement as possible, in order to allow the student time to address the issue/s of concern (Matua et al., 2014). Leaving the decision until it is too late may prevent the initiation of any ‘rescue strategies’ the practice assessor/academic assessor may attempt to implement at a later date (Hughes et al., 2016) resulting in the student failing the placement, having had no opportunity to correct the concern/s. On deciding to put a student into a formal process a tripartite meeting is required. This meeting will be held with the student, the Practice Assessor and the Academic Assessor (Houghton, 2016). This will then need to be formally documented and escalated to the University and employer.

In preparation for the meeting with the student, it is helpful to have recorded in writing, the specific issues that are of concern to you and have this supported by an example or examples of when the practice was not deemed appropriate. Putting the evidence that you have, into coherent discussion points, on paper will help the student and Academic Assessor significantly. In particular doing this will help you to provide robust evidence that supports your concerns, and if shared with the student and Academic Assessor prior to the meeting allows the student some time to reflect on this information and come prepared to the meeting to discuss the issues raised. You also need to consider at this stage what actions you feel could be put in place or that you expect the student to do to help rectify the situation.

Being prepared for the meeting will help you keep the subsequent meeting focused and based on fact. As Hardavella et al. (2017) says, generalised feedback is not helpful and can trigger unhelpful thoughts in the student, such as whether there is a hidden agenda. This can be compounded when there is lack of advice on how they can improve that behaviour.

When arranging a meeting to discuss the students’ progress it needs to be made clear to the student the purpose of the meeting and who will be present and why. The venue for holding the meeting also needs to be thought through. Providing negative feedback in the middle of a busy clinical area is not appropriate and has the potential to make the student feel embarrassed and/or awkward.

At the meeting the feedback needs to outline what the student has done well before introducing the areas of concern as a way of balancing the feedback and not completely demoralise and deflate the student. It is very important that you listen carefully to what the student has to say by listening to their explanations for performing the way they did in the assigned task/s (Matua et al., 2014). Matua et al. also go on to say that listening to the student attentively can help portray a sense of caring for the student as well as give them the opportunity to explain if they have been experiencing a specific issue not known previously. Where relevant and appropriate this gives an opportunity for the assessor/s to address the issue/s and make any reasonable adjustments as required such as an undisclosed/undiagnosed disability (Houghton, 2016). This also provides an opportunity for the assessor/s to adjust their subsequent teaching approaches to facilitate better learning for the student.

The outputs from this meeting gives the learner a chance to rectify the situation, and not fail the placement because the student does not know there is an issue or know how to address the issues raised (Duffy, 2013). There are many tools that can be used, with the formal learning contract/action plan probably being the most common. This plan needs to build in time to give the student space to rectify behaviours but must always contain a review date so that progress can be tracked and discussed. The discussions which occur as part of these reviews must be comprehensively recorded and all parties involved (including the student) given a copy.