Traditional models of clinical placements for students in speech and language therapy (SLT) are often based on a one-to-one model where the structure of the learning process is: theory, observation and practice. Literature relating to adult learning and professional education suggests alternative approaches to clinical training which may be relevant to SLT. Work in progress is discussed where alternative approaches to placements and student learning in a range of placement settings are being developed.

A questionnaire was sent to teachers and speech and language therapists who work together with children who have communication problems and severe learning disabilities. In the study the effect of the exchange of information on the collaborative working practices of these professionals and the subsequent implications for professional development is considered. This study was set up to examine whether this exchange was affected if the teachers and speech and language therapists were perceived as being 'specialists' in the field of SLD. The research addresses the issues of the knowledge and skills gained, the type of information exchanged and the ways in which this may affect the nature of the collaborative process.

Jannet A. Wright and Myra Kersner, senior lecturers in the Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, consider the practical implications of recent policies for teachers and speech and language therapists working together in inclusive settings. Their conclusions complement McCartney's ideas in the previous article.

As a strategy in education, short termism has been much criticised. In this article Jannet Wright and Myra Kersner consider the effects of short-term projects in relation to their own area of expertise in speech and language therapy. While they find such projects encourage creativity they also identify some serious limitations.

It was apparent from the responses to a postal questionnaire sent to teachers and speech and language therapists working together in special schools, that, not only do they consider that it is important for them to collaborate when they work together for children with severe learning disabilities (Kersner and Wright, 1995), but that they work together more effectively when they have a shared understanding of each other's work and each other's role within that work. The respondents, who could all be considered to be specialists, either by virtue of their training, professional development, and/or years of specifically related work experience, indicated that they were involved in more joint working practice than Wright (1992) found in her study. This has implications for the future specialist training and the professional development of both teachers and speech and language therapists.