Adapting the Girandole framework for cross-disciplinary social justice reflection in health professions education.

Authors

Enrico De Luca, Bilkis Islam-Ali, Yusra Siddiqui

Published in

Frontiers in medicine. Volume 13. Pages 1942107. Epub Oct 09, 2026.

Abstract

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are increasingly embedded within the standards and strategic priorities of health professions education. However, persistent inequities, hidden curricula and differences between institutional commitments and learners' lived experiences indicate a need for approaches that move beyond policy compliance towards critical, socially informed reflection. This Perspective paper explores the cross-disciplinary adaptation of the Girandole Framework, originally developed in nursing education, for application across health professions education. The framework uses six interconnected domains-Power, Hidden Curriculum, Professional Values, Personal Values, Culture, and EDI Education and Awareness-to support examination of the individual, cultural and structural influences shaping educational and professional experiences. An exploratory cross-disciplinary workshop involving healthcare professional students informed the adaptation of the framework. Informal discussions suggested that Power, Culture, and Personal and Professional Values were readily connected to learners' experiences. In contrast, Hidden Curriculum and EDI Education and Awareness required clearer language, practical examples and additional educational scaffolding. These insights informed the refinement of the framework's reflective prompts and the development of examples relevant to nursing, pharmacy, biomedical science and transferrable to other health professions. The adapted Girandole offers a shared language through which students and educators can critically examine power relationships, informal norms, professional cultures and educational omissions. Potential future applications include clinical and laboratory placements, professionalism teaching, portfolio-based learning, interprofessional education and curriculum review; however, these applications require empirical evaluation. The framework is intended to complement established reflective models by foregrounding equity and social justice. Further student-educator co-production and empirical evaluation are needed to assess its contribution to EDI literacy, belonging, reflective practice and meaningful organisational change across health professions curricula.

PMID:
42920451
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Oct 2026.

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