A WHITE PHYSIOTHERAPY CURRICULUM? INTERPRETING THE EXPERIENCE OF UK PHYSIOTHERAPY EDUCATION THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY

¹University of Brighton, School of Health Professionals, Brighton, United Kingdom

Background: In an era of globalisation, physiotherapists from all over the world undertake postgraduate study in the UK. They may then wish to gain employment in the UK, but, since the global economic downturn, many have no choice but to return to practice in their home countries. UK approaches to physiotherapy are the dominant discourses even in those designed for overseas students. This qualitative research investigates the impact of transnational professional education on students and questions the transferability of their learning to different health contexts.

Purpose: The impetus for the research was a concern for the relevance of a UK Masters' degree for overseas physiotherapists whose future working lives lay outside of the UK. This concern was generated through recognition that physiotherapy practices differ between countries and that the learning acquired on the Masters' degree may not be transferrable into a non-UK context.

Methods: Six Indian students were interviewed using a constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2014) during their final semester of Master’s study. Participants’ professional constructions and working cultures were interpreted using theoretical perspectives of identity, structure and agency (Holland et al., 2001).

Results: Grimshaw and Sears (2008) refers to a process of ‘cultural hybridity’ resulting from cross cultural encounters. However, these participants wholly bought into the concept of the supremacy of UK practice constructs and questioned their previous practices. They recognised the potential difficulties of using these new approaches within their home country contexts, but also described an increase in self-confidence from studying abroad. Critical Race Theory (CRT) suggests that innate inequalities are perpetuated between different races in all areas of life (Delgado & Stefancic, 2012; Ladson-Billings & Tate IV, 1995). Physiotherapy education has never been analysed from this perspective. Interpreting these findings through CRT suggests that throughout their Masters’ study, students were exposed to a white authority, in the form of a UK university and its promotion of UK practices. In doing so the teaching revealed a subconscious ethnocentricity and an undermining of students’ home country practices, which could impact negatively on students’ confidence and future working.

Conclusion(s): A CRT perspective suggests that the Masters’ course undertaken is an example of an oppressive pedagogy (Ladson-Billings & Tate IV, 1995) through its lack of awareness of structural differences in social and national contexts. In doing this it presents a ‘white curriculum’ (Ryan & Viete, 2009). However, it can also be seen that students benefit in terms of the enhancement of their social capital (Bourdieu, 1986) from their adoption of UK, hegemonic narratives.

Implications: Although participants describe an increase in self-confidence from studying abroad, paradoxically, a loss of confidence may result from the unintentional positioning of UK practice as superior (Sennett & Cobb, 1973; Solorzano, 1997). Students from less well-resourced countries pay a high price to study overseas and HEIs have an ethical responsibility to offer programmes that develop practice wherever that might be located. Ethical teaching should be respectful of different perspectives (Carroll & Ryan, 2007). This is particularly important when working with international students, as their future context may be difficult to comprehend.

Funding acknowledgements: Forming part of a Doctor of Education qualification part funded by Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

Topic: Education

Ethics approval: Ethical approval was granted by the Research Ethics Committee at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.