that individuals have an innate potential for growth and development and that teachers should be concerned with facilitating this natural process. Rogers (1983) states that 'humanist education aims to enable learners to express their own needs and interests, building their self confidence, independence and creative energy'. I have covered these theories briefly just to give an idea of the different ways in which people believe we learn. There are certain other aspects of learning to consider. The preceptor must be aware of the factors which may interfere with learning such as anxiety, environmental distractions and lack of motivation. These are just a few examples. There are also factors which may influence the students learning such as past experiences , prior knowledge and physical / mental state. These must all be taken into account before and during a preceptorship programme. The first few meetings between preceptor and student will enable learning needs and initial difficulties to be worked out before teaching strategies and approaches can be put into practice. However the student will most likely encounter numerous problems along the route of preceptorship. There are many definitions as to what teaching is. Curzon (1985) suggests that 'it should be considered as the deliberate and systematic creation and control of the condition in which learning does occur'. Moore (1984) believes that 'education is deliberate, planned, organised and undertaken with the conscious intention of changing knowledge, skills or attitudes'. The principle of Pedagogy is based on the assumption that the individual is the product of the social system in which they are located. Knowles (1973) describes Pedagogy as 'the art of science of teaching children'. It implies that the student is a passive recipient of the teaching, as in children. Androgogy was described by Knowles as the 'art of science of helping adults to ...
