The Permeable Practitioner
The permeable practitioner is an idea which grew out of my research into health professionals’ experiences of supervision. I noticed that regardless of how many years of experience practitioners have, they expect to encounter uncertainties in everyday practice. These uncertainties persist throughout the practitioner’s career but the sources of the uncertainties will vary. Practitioners who expect, recognise and seek to resolve their practice uncertainties are self-aware, aware of and for others, awareness sharing, feedback-seeking, open to alternatives, critically attuned and ultimately willing to change.
I call practitioners who display these behaviours and characteristics ‘permeable practitioners’.
In these pages, I’ve brought together ideas and resources which I’ve developed with practice colleagues and others. I’m sharing them here in the hope that they may be helpful for others in identifying, navigating and resolving practice uncertainties.
I do not offer education, research, supervision or speech and language services via this site. To contact me about any work of this sort, please do so via my City St George’s, University of London profile below
Deborah Harding PhD, MSc, BMedSci(Speech), PGCertLTHE, HCPC, RCSLT, FHEA
My training as a speech and language therapist has been the foundation of a varied career in healthcare as a clinician, manager, educator and researcher. Much of the content on this site has grown out of my PhD in supervision for allied health professionals and subsequent work with a wider range of professions working in the NHS in the UK and beyond. In 2022 I was appointed Professor of Learning and Innovation for Practice at St George’s University of London, which became the School of Health and Medical Sciences, City St George’s, University of London in 2024. I am also Subject Matter Expert for Multiprofessional Supervision in the Centre for Advancing Practice, NHS England. I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and a Fellow of the Advance HE (FHEA).