General recommendations
- It is recommended that work towards the further development of Speech and
Language Therapy (SLT) as a recognised academic discipline should continue.
It is important to recognise its multidisciplinary links and to encourage
theoretical developments and research in both the art of clinical practice
and the science of intervention.
- It is recommended that teaching and learning strategies that facilitate
the application of theory to therapy should be developed and exploited, and
that the development of the professional skills that lead to the generation
of reflective practitioners should be facilitated.
- It is recommended that closer collaboration between SLT educators,
pre-clinical and clinical educators should be encouraged in order to provide
good cases or problems for students' learning.
- It is recommended that academic and clinical teachers in SLT should have
access to continuous training opportunities aimed at helping them to meet
the challenges posed by the introduction of new pedagogical methods.
- It is recommended that further work should be done at a European level to
evaluate educational and professional standards in SLT and to facilitate
good practice in education.
- CPLOL (Commité Permanent de Liason des Orthophoniste-Logopèdes de la
C.E.E.) advocates a variety of clinical placements in the basic education of
SLTs. In line with Socrates objectives, we would advocate student and staff
exchanges between a variety of academic institutions, facilitating the
development of equality of standards in SLT across Europe.
Specific recommendations
- It is recommended that courses in phonetics should be an essential element
in SLT education, and that they should incorporate a direct clinical focus
- It is recommended that a standard approach to the use of IPA phonetic
conventions for transcribing normal and disordered speech should be adopted
across Europe and that this should be a core component of educational
courses.
- An expansion of the role of methods and tools of Spoken Language
Engineering (SLE) in education and in clinical practice is recommended. The
development of SLE has major implications for some areas of clinical
application and needs to be considered for inclusion in developing SLT.
- Collaboration between those working in Computer Aided Learning (CAL) and
in SLT for production of materials is strongly recommended. CAL developments
have direct implications for some labour-intensive supervisory teaching and
learning tasks; however, they cannot replace hands-on personal experience.
- It is recommended that the use of the internet for education in various
areas of SLT should be facilitated for the benefit of clinicians, students
and teachers. The need for observance of professional ethics must be
emphasised.
- It is recommended that the use of Internet as a part of study programmes
in SLT is implemented initially on an experimental level, with its
effectiveness to be fully evaluated over time.
- It is recommended that exploitation of the Internet/WWW should be used to
facilitate the application of theory to practice, and to help bridge the gap
between research and clinical teaching in SLT.
Based on the work done by the Speech and Language Therapy Working Group from
the TNP Speech Communication Sciences during the years 1997-2000.
Responsible author: Anu Klippi 20.10.2000
Further information can be found in the following sources:
In Book 1, we analysed the state-of-the-art in educational
programmes in SLT in Europe related to the issues above. (NOTE: link to Book 1,
chapter Speech and Language Therapy.)
In Book 2 (NOTE: link to Book 2, chapter 5, The Integration….)
we put forward some proposals concerning the integration of Phonetics,
Internet/CAL and SLE in education programmes for SLT. This chapter mainly
concerns recommendations for the development of areas a, b, c mentioned above.
Proposals regarding new issues are also presented, emphasising the importance of
how new learning theories will affect education in SLT.
Book 3 (NOTE: link to Book 3, chapter 4) presents
recommendations for Speech Communication Disorders Curricula.
We also recommend to read the educational guidelines of IALP,
the educational guidelines of CPLOL
and the educational guidelines of ASHA.
SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION DISORDERS CURRICULA
During the years 1997-2000 the working group on Speech and
Language Therapy (SLT) in the Socrates Network on Speech Communication Sciences
have studied and written about three areas related to Network's overall task:
a. the role of Phonetics (and Speech Communication Sciences) in SLT;
b. the "scientification" of SLT by arguments for an independent
scientific discipline;
c. the role of Internet and Computer Aided Learning (CAL) in the future
development of SLT course content and collaboration
The following specific recommendations for communication disorders curricula are
given:
Anu Klippi 20.10.2000