597
Professionalism in Education and Work

Tuesday, 12 July 2016: 16:00-17:30
Location: Hörsaal 17 (Juridicum)
RC52 Sociology of Professional Groups (host committee)

Language: English

During the past 40 to 50 years, vocational programmes worldwide have been upgraded to higher education programmes. It is generally taken for granted that higher education play a key role in the development of professionals’ knowledge and skills. 
Collins (1979) challenged this optimistic assumption decades ago, however, claiming that the outcome of higher education first and foremost are credentials and that professional knowledge are primarily learned in working life. Even though such perspectives have significant consequences for our understanding of the characteristics of professionalism, there is a lack of evidence on how professional competence is acquired. The “academic drift” of vocational programmes may be considered as “professionalisation from above” as well as “professionalisation from below”. Moreover, “academic drift” is a multidimensional phenomenon and more academic do not have to imply less vocational. 
There are no simple answers to these issues. The development of professionalism in education and work, therefore, has to be explored based on different perspectives including policy analyses, curriculum studies and individual learning trajectories and performance. Important questions to be addressed in this session are: 

  • What are the implications of the academic drift of vocational educational programmes? 
  • What have been the driving forces behind these processes? 
  • Are there contradictory institutional logics and an epistemological divide between knowledge and skills emphasised in higher education and occupational practice? 
  • What is the role of theoretical and practical knowledge in professional practice? 
  • How is professional expertise developed? 
  • Are programmes emphasising workplace learning a new trend?
Session Organizer:
Jens-Christian SMEBY, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway
Chair:
Christiane SCHNELL, Institute of Social Research at the Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany
Posters:
Does Higher Education Police Training Make a Difference in the Field?
Pal WINNAESS, Norwegian Police University College, Norway
Hybrid Professionalism and the Use of Knowledge, Intuitions and Personal Relations in Preventive Welfare Work
Gitte Sommer HARRITS, Aarhus University, Department of Political Science, Denmark; Marie Ostergaard MOLLER, KORA, The Danish Institute for Local and Regional Government Research, Denmark
Fostering Professional Development Among UK Dental Undergraduates with a Dental Scrubs Ceremony: Findings of a Two Year Study
Patricia NEVILLE, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; Andrea WAYLEN, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; Lisa MCNALLY, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Ambiguous Academisation of Vocational Education
Jens-Christian SMEBY, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway
On the Road Again? Training Paramedics in Higher Education in the UK
Assaf GIVATI, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom; Chris MARKHAM, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom; Ken STREET, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Upbringing of Engineers: Resources and Limitations of "Intergenerational Career"
Irina POPOVA, Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
Critical Perspective on the Influence of Professional Organizations in the Construction of Curricula of Undergraduate Courses in Accounting
Osmar Antonio BONZANINI, URI - Universidade Regional Integrada do Alto Uruguai e das Missoes, Brazil; Amelia Cristina F. da SILVA, ISCAP - Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto, Portugal; Teresa Gabriela Marques LEITE, Universidade Lusófona do Porto, Portugal
A Sociological Approach of the Educational Dimension of the National Security in Romania
Mihail ANTON, National Defense University "Carol I", Romania