Professionalisation as development and as regulation: Adult education in Germany, the United Kingdom and India

In this paper, the authors seek to disentangle what they see as contradictory uses of the term “professionalisation” with reference to adult educator development and training (AEDT). They set out to distinguish professionalisation from professionalism, and to identify the locus of control of AEDT in Germany, the UK and India. In these three countries, all of which have a long tradition of adult education, “professionalisation” and “professionalism” are used interchangeably to describe conflicting purposes. The authors aim to identify and critically explore the organisations and policies which control and support AEDT in their own countries using American sociologist Eliot Freidson’s “third logic” model, and drawing on his juxtaposition of “professions”, “the market” and “bureaucracy”. Applying Freidson’s models to the organisations highlights the role of bureaucracy and that where adult education is concerned, national governments, the European Union and aid organisations not only serve bureaucracy but also support the market rather than operating separately from it. While the term “professionalisation” continues to be used to mean professional development, either by adult educators and representative organisations (as in the UK) or by organisations acting on their behalf (as in Germany and India), it is also used to denote regulation and standardisation issuing from bureaucratic institutions and adult education provider organisations in the interests of the market. The authors suggest that Freidson’s model provides a useful tool for adult educators in other countries to reflect on their professional position and to engage in the development of their own professional standards, both in their own interests and in the interests of those they educate