Emerging from the third space chrysalis: Experiences in a non-hierarchical, collaborative research community of practice

This article discusses the creation of a research-focused virtual community of practice (vCoP) for geographically-dispersed third space professionals, motivated by desires for enhanced professional collaboration, visibility and identity. The authors used collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to evaluate their personal reflections as vCoP participants. Data were gathered in two collaborative writing activities and analysed using thematic analysis (TA). The TA identified two connected themes, which capture the vCoP members’ aspirations to transcend their current roles and be research-active through connecting with like-minded professionals. Collaborative writing activities, including authoring this paper, cultivated elements of academic identity such as independence and purpose. A non-hierarchical and supportive vCoP environment allowed the members to work beyond time and institutional constraints to foster the evolution of the community and an emerging sense of professional identity beyond that typically associated with third space roles. The paper offers a model of collaboration that could help groups in similar situations.

What if health care worked like everything else?

Doctors use up-to-date communication technology in their personal lives, but the tools they use to communicate with professional colleagues are much more limited. In light of new research exploring the use of WhatsApp in Israel, this commentary explores the barriers to such use and the technological, legal, and cultural factors that enable adoption of such technologies for medical communication. Common tools can be used for professional collaboration but must be adapted for that use as well as culturally acceptable for broad implementation.

The Fourth Wall of Professional Learning and Cultures of Collaboration

Recent innovations in professional development are rife with a wide array of efforts focused on teacher collaboration. In this essay, we address some of the unexamined assumptions about the nature and significance of interactions in teacher professional collaboration, drawing on the concept of the “fourth wall” from theater and film studies. The fourth wall is a term used to describe the invisible wall that separates actors from their audience. We use this metaphor to interrogate the function of the fourth wall in professional learning and argue that it reflects a culture of professional learning that, despite innovations that tout teacher collaboration, upholds isolation in teaching and teacher learning and deep embedded norms of noninterference in one another’s practice. We also attend to the possibilities for supporting teacher learning that breaching the fourth wall affords when shared enactments of practice are used as a context for teachers’ sensemaking and collaboration.

The Study Tour in China: An Emerging Mode for Practical Education

The study tour is an effective mode for students to learn in an effective way. For decades, it gradually has become an emerging mode for practical education in China, underpinned by policies, funds, technology, and human resources. This study aims to showcase how the curriculum of the study tour can currently be operated, including goals, content, teachers, and evaluation, as well as what the potential barriers are. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study through organizing site investigation and distributing questionnaires. The data were from 122 institutes of study tour in Zhejiang Province as the outstanding example. According to the results, we find that even though there are numerous study tour courses, the syllabi are not rigorous and the professional literacy of the teaching staff is low. Additionally, most study tour activities are carried out with lecturing or sightseeing, yet without practice, inquiry, or operation. Therefore, with the study tour being increasingly emphasized, more professional collaboration with schools and universities should be put on the agenda to enhance the prevailing curriculum.

Clinical debriefing during the COVID-19 pandemic: hurdles and opportunities for healthcare teams

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent pressures on healthcare staff and resources have exacerbated the need for clinical teams to reflect and learn from workplace experiences. Surges in critically ill patients, the impact of the disease on the workforce and long term adjustments in work and life have upturned our normality. Whilst this situation has generated a new ‘connectedness’ within healthcare workers, it also continues to test our resilience.An international multi-professional collaboration has guided the identification of ongoing difficulties to effective communication and debriefing, as well as emerging opportunities to promote a culture of dialogue. This article outlines pandemic related barriers and new possibilities categorising them according to task management, teamwork, situational awareness and decision making. It describes their direct and indirect impact on clinical debriefing and signposts towards solutions to overcome challenges and, building on new bridges, advance team conversations that allow us to learn, improve and support each other.This pandemic has brought clinical professionals together; nevertheless, it is essential to invest in further developing and supporting cohesive teams. Debriefing enables healthcare teams and educators to mitigate stress, build resilience and promote a culture of continuous learning and patient care improvement.

Inter-Professional Collaboration and Occupational Well-Being of Physicians Who Work in Adverse Working Conditions

Inter-professional collaboration, empathy and lifelong learning, components of medical professionalism, have been associated with occupational well-being in physicians. However, it is not clear whether this role persists in adverse working conditions. This study was performed to assess whether this is the case. These three abilities, and the self-perception of somatization, exhaustion and work alienation, were measured in a sample of 60 physicians working in a hospital declared to be in an institutional emergency. A multiple regression model explained 40% of the variability of exhaustion, with a large effect size (Cohen’s-f2 = 0.64), based on a linear relationship with teamwork (p = 0.01), and more dedication to academic (p < 0.001) and management activities (p < 0.003). Neither somatization nor alienation were predicted by empathy or lifelong learning abilities. Somatization, exhaustion, or alienation scores either explained empathy, inter-professional collaboration or lifelong learning scores. These findings indicate that, in adverse working environments, physicians with a greater sense of inter-professional collaboration or performing multi-task activities are more exposed to suffering exhaustion.