Refurbishing macintyre's account of practice

According to Alasdair MacIntyre's influential account of practices, 'teaching itself is not a practice, but a set of skills and habits put to the service of a variety of practices' (MacIntyre and Dunne, 2002, p. 5). Various philosophers of education have responded to and critiqued MacIntyre's position, most notably in a Special Issue of the Journal of Philosophy of Education (Vol. 37.2, 2003). However, both in that Special Issue and since, this debate remains inconclusive. Much of this earlier discussion seems to accept that teaching is a unique case in being a putative practice that does not fit readily into MacIntyre's account. In fact many supposed practices, including some nominated by MacIntyre himself, do not fit his account. A constructive critique of this account leads to a refurbished, broadly MacIntyrean account of practice. This will clarify the issue of whether teaching and a range of other activities are, indeed, practices. © 2011 The Author. Journal compilation © 2011 Journal of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain

Production of Standard-Grade Ferromanganese in an Electric Arc Furnace

The original purpose of this thesis was to determine the feasibility of producing standard-grade ferromanganese from the Cuban concentrates using an electric arc furnace. This purpose was later changed since it became necessary to study the adequacy of a laboratory electric arc furnace for comparability with commercial operations. Since the original purpose of the investigation had been changed while the area of investigation had not, the research work was then continued with the purpose of collecting information on ferromanganese production as a background for anticipated future work in pyrochemical research at the Montana School of Mines

Working outside the comfort of competence in a corrections centre: toward collective competence

Qualitative case study of the collective learning of staff working in a corrections centre under conditions of rapid organisational change. Conceptualises the notion of collective competence that is emergent and relationally constructed

Problematising practice, Learning and change: Practice-theory perspectives on professional learning

© Emerald Group Publishing. Purpose – This paper aims to problematise practice and contribute to new understandings of professional and workplace learning. Practice is a concept which has been largely taken for granted and under-theorised in workplace learning and education research. Practice has usually been co-located with classifiers, such as legal practice, vocational practice, teaching practice and yoga practice, with the theoretical emphasis on the domain – legal, teaching and learning.Design/methodology/approach – This is a theory-driven paper which posits a framework of six prominent threads for theorizing practice. It uses examples of empirical research to illustrate each thread.Findings – A framework of six prominent threads for theorising practice in professional learning is suggested. It understands practices as patterned, embodied, networked and emergent and learning entwined with working, knowing, organizing and innovating. By conceptualising learning as occurring via and in practices, prominent understanding of learning are challenged. The paper discusses each thread with reference to empirical research that illuminates it and indicates the contributions of practice theory perspectives in richer understandings of professional learning and change.Originality/value – This paper engages with the practice turn in social sciences to reconceptualise professional and workplace learning. It contributes to research on learning at work by supplementing current thinking about learning, particularly the socio-cultural conceptions of learning, with the resources of practice theories that attend to the regularities of practice