Building the foundations of professional expertise: creating a dialectic between work and formal learning

Recent critiques of management and teacher education curricula and teaching pay particular attention to the disconnection between the de-contextualised, formal knowledge and analytical techniques conveyed in university programs and the messy, ill-structured nature of practice. At the same time research into professional expertise suggests that its development requires bringing together different forms of knowledge and the integration of formal and non-formal learning with the development of cognitive flexibility. Such complex learning outcomes are unlikely to be achieved through a 'knowledge transmission' approach to curriculum design. In this article we argue that in many ways current higher education practices create barriers to developing ways of knowing which can underpin the formation of expertise. Using examples from two practice-focused distance learning courses, we explore the role of distance learning in enabling a dialogue between academic and workplace learning and the use of 'practice dialogues' among course participants to enable integration of learning experiences. Finally, we argue that we need to find ways in higher education of enabling students to engage in relevant communities of expertise, rather than drawing them principally into a community of academic discourse which is not well aligned with practice

Building the Foundations of Professional Expertise: creating a dialectic between work and formal learning

Recent critiques of management and teacher education curricula and teaching pay particular attention to the disconnection between the de-contextualised, formal knowledge and analytical techniques conveyed in university programmes and the messy, ill-structured nature of practice. At the same time, research into professional expertise suggests that its development requires bringing together different forms of knowledge and the integration of formal and nonformal learning with the development of cognitive flexibility. Such complex learning outcomes are unlikely to be achieved through a ‘knowledge transmission’ approach to curriculum design. In this article we argue that in many ways current higher education practices create barriers to developing ways of knowing which can underpin the formation of expertise. Using examples from two practice-focused distance learning courses, we explore the role of distance learning in enabling a dialogue between academic and workplace learning and the use of ‘practice dialogues’ among course participants to enable integration of learning experiences. Finally, we argue that we need to find ways in higher education of enabling students to engage in relevant communities of expertise, rather than drawing them principally into a community of academic discourse which is not well aligned with practice

How do entrepreneurs learn and engage in an online community-of-practice? A case study approach

This paper investigates the ways in which entrepreneurs use communities of practice (CoPs) to express themselves, using narrative theory and rhetorical analysis, to gain insight into an electronic social network medium, namely, YoungEntrepreneur.com. In particular, the study focuses on CoPs themes, including why entrepreneurs engage in CoPs, what role the moderators and resident entrepreneurs can play in managing online CoPs, on communication rituals of the knowledge sharing through interactivity, and on ‘how to develop an intervention’ to maintain and stimulate entrepreneurs for engaging in an online community. Findings reveal that the topic title plays a major role in attracting people. Successful topics with successful conclusions (in terms of the original query that was answered) will not necessarily get high responses and vice versa. It is observed that the domain expert does not play a big role in keeping the discussion going. Finally, the study also discovered that entrepreneurs like to communicate in a story telling genre. A comprehensive set of engagement measurement tools are introduced to effectively measure the engagement in a virtual CoP, along with a classification to define and categorise discourse of messages in terms of content and context, which allow practitioners to understand the effectiveness of a social networking site

Knowledge sharing by entrepreneurs in a virtual community of practice (VCoP)

PurposeThis paper examines how entrepreneurs engage in a Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP) to share knowledge. Intensity of engagement is taken as a proxy to measure the strength of knowledge sharing.Design/methodology/approachThe archival data spanning over a three-year period from ‘Start-up-Nation©’ (a VCoP purposefully setup for entrepreneurs) is used for analysis. A set of indices are introduced to measure participants’ intensity of engagement in terms of message length, message frequency and reciprocity in the knowledge sharing process. Content analysis is employed to test a sample of ‘highly engaged’, ‘moderately engaged’, ‘low engaged’ and ‘not engaged’ discussion topics as part of the on-line discourse.FindingsWe find that entrepreneurs normally use short (fewer than 100 words) or medium (fewer than 250 words) message size to contribute to the discussions. In addition, we find that senior members and discussion moderators play important roles in igniting the ‘reciprocity’ behaviour in stimulating the interest of the community with the topic discussion. We also findthat highly engaged topics usually lead to further discussion threads.Originality/valueThis is the first study of its kind to explore how entrepreneurs engage in a VCoP to share their knowledge and experiences. The set of measurement indices tested here provide a tool for the owner, designer and moderator of the VCoP to measure the utility of their website in terms of its members’ participation. In addition, the set of textual and subjective interventions identified here enable the moderator (administrator) of a VCoP to design effective interventions to facilitate on-line discourse and augment the knowledge sharing process amongst its community members

The Evidence Hub: harnessing the collective intelligence of communities to build evidence-based knowledge

Conventional document and discussion websites provide users with no help in assessing the quality or quantity of evidence behind any given idea. Besides, the very meaning of what evidence is may not be unequivocally defined within a community, and may require deep understanding, common ground and debate. An Evidence Hub is a tool to pool the community collective intelligence on what is evidence for an idea. It provides an infrastructure for debating and building evidence-based knowledge and practice. An Evidence Hub is best thought of as a filter onto other websites — a map that distills the most important issues, ideas and evidence from the noise by making clear why ideas and web resources may be worth further investigation. This paper describes the Evidence Hub concept and rationale, the breath of user engagement and the evolution of specific features, derived from our work with different community groups in the healthcare and educational sector

Public Relations Professional Practice And The Institutionalisation of CSR

Purpose This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal case study into the professionalisation of public relations practices and the institutionalisation of corporate social responsibility as a legitimate social and business arrangement. In doing so, there are implications for the dynamic relationship between practices and the professionalisation of public relations. Methodology A qualitative longitudinal study is used to examine the social construction of social responsibility in the Australian banking industry from 1999-2004 across two levels of analysis – societal expectations as institution, and practices of banking and public relations as action. Findings The study shows that the case organisations shifted their public relations and communication practices during the period of the study. In response to the demands of publics, there was a central shift from a one-way perspective where organisations sought to influence and persuade publics of the appropriateness of thier actions towards a two-way perspective where organisations needed to consult, negotiate and engage with publics. In doing so, this study suggests that there was a shift in the profession of how public relations was practiced, but also highlighted the changes to institutional arrangements about the legitimacy of social responsibilities of large organisations

Rights or containment? The politics of Aboriginal cultural heritage in Victoria

Aboriginal cultural heritage protection, and the legislative regimes that underpin it, constitute important mechanisms for Aboriginal people to assert their rights and responsibilities. This is especially so in Victoria, where legislation vests wide-ranging powers and control of cultural heritage with Aboriginal communities. However, the politics of cultural heritage, including its institutionalisation as a scientific body of knowledge within the state, can also result in a powerful limiting of Aboriginal rights and responsibilities. This paper examines the politics of cultural heritage through a case study of a small forest in north-west Victoria. Here, a dispute about logging has pivoted around differing conceptualisations of Aboriginal cultural heritage values and their management. Cultural heritage, in this case, is both a powerful tool for the assertion of Aboriginal rights and interests, but simultaneously a set of boundaries within which the state operates to limit and manage the challenge those assertions pose. The paper will argue that Aboriginal cultural heritage is a politically contested and shifting domain structured around Aboriginal law and politics, Australian statute and the legacy of colonial history

'Knowledge is power' : Aboriginal Healthworkers' perspectives on their practice, education and communities

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.This study explores Aboriginal Healthworkers’ workplace roles and practice, their education and training, community experience and their discourse about these topics. Aboriginal Healthworkers fulfil a wide variety of roles in Aboriginal community and mainstream health services. Their scope of practice has expanded and diversified in recent years, and the education programs they undertake have evolved in tandem. Moreover, their community experience is crucial in terms of their contributions to the treatment of health issues in Aboriginal communities. The study is based on in-depth interviews with nine Healthworkers in NSW, with varied workplace roles, education, and community backgrounds. Analysis, and interpretation follow three steps. Firstly, transcripts from Healthworkers’ spoken interviews are recontextualised as biographies, to display the complexity and diversity of their personal and professional lives, and to provide a context for the more analytical aspects of the study. Selected extracts from the original transcripts are then analysed in detail, drawing on discourse analytic methods to identify ways in which each Healthworker presents and evaluates their roles, education, and connections with their families and communities. Thirdly, patterns emerging in analyses of each Healthworker’s presentation and evaluation are compared, discussed and interpreted. The analyses reveal three general types of Healthworker roles that overlap with three general types of education. Roles are described most generally as clinical, community care, and program management. The study found that Healthworkers who studied at vocational Certificate III or sometimes at the Certificate IV level, tend to list and recount their workplace practice and education; those with multiple qualifications tend to generalise and argue for the contributions of their roles and education; and those with a university degree or a mainstream Certificate IV tend to generalise, reflect, and systematically link their education and work roles. Common amongst all the Healthworkers is an educational pathway that began with vocational study and workplace practice, and a recognition of the value of university qualifications for their profession, which is the ideal goal for all. With regard to family and community, all Healthworkers were also motivated by their families, and shared experiences with their communities that gave them a unique set of skills and knowledge in their practice, and underpinned their dedication to improving Aboriginal health. The study contributes useful new knowledge to the field, in the analyses that are applied to the data, and in the findings that emerge from these analyses. In regard to the first stage of the analyses, the recontextulisation of interviews as biographies gives each Healthworker an explicit life story, including their family/community experiences, the phases in their working careers, and the educational pathways they have taken. In the second stage, the detailed analysis of interviews using discourse analytic techniques forms a coherent, objective basis for identifying common patterns between them, and interpreting these patterns. Critically, these analyses draw on the voices of Healthworkers themselves to provide information about the parameters of what it is to be a Healthworker, and the experiences and education that shape it. Findings reveal the diversity and complexity of Healthworker’ practice, that is not recognised in current role definitions or Healthworkers’ vocational training; the knowledge, skills and values that Healthworkers bring to their practice from their families and community that requires systematic description; the educational pathways that Healthworkers have forged for themselves; the power that a university education gives Healthworkers, to reflect on and explain their practice; and that Healthworkers’ identities as Aboriginal community members remain strong, no matter what their educational achievements

Does e-learning policy drive change in Higher Education?: A case study relating models of organisational change to e-learning implementation

Due to the heightened competition introduced by the potential global market and the need for structural changes within organisations delivering e-content, e-learning policy is beginning to take on a more significant role within the context of educational policy per se. For this reason, it is becoming increasingly important to establish what effect such policies have and how they are achieved. This paper addresses this question, illustrating five ways in which change is understood (Fordist, evolutionary, ecological, community of practice and discourse-oriented) and then using this range of perspectives to explore how e-learning policy drives change (both organisational and pedagogic) within a selected higher education institution. The implications of this case are then discussed, and both methodological and pragmatic conclusions are drawn, considering the relative insights offered by the models and ways in which change around e-learning might be supported or promoted