Theoretical perspectives on professionalism, professionality and professional development

invited seminar paper presented at Monash University Faculty of Education 11th July 2008 Dr Linda EvansSchool of Education, University of Leeds, UK

My current quest

The professional development process:

defining and delineating the process

formulating a theoretical model the job fulfilment process in individuals the process whereby individuals attain high

morale

a theoretical model of the process whereby individuals develop professionally

What is a theory?

‘Debate about theory is rarely accompanied by any discussion about its meaning. Any superficial examination (or, indeed, detailed examination) of educational literature discloses little consensus about the meaning of theory…There is no bond between theory and the constellation of meanings it has acquired. The reader or listener, when encountering the word, is forced to guess what is signified by the word through the context in which it is applied.’

(Thomas, G. (1997) ‘What’s the Use of Theory ?’, Harvard Educational Review, 67 (1), 75-104)

What is theory?

‘It is rarely clear what people are against when they dismiss theory. It is important to distinguish between theory, in the sense of the assumptions which lie behind practice but which often go unacknowledged, and theory, in the sense of tightly organised systems of explanation.’

(Pring, R. (2000) Philosophy of Educational Research, London, Continuum)

What is theory?

LeCompte and Preissle (p. 118):

‘Theories are statements about how things are connected. Their purpose is to explain why things happen as they do’

‘Many researchers eschew contact with theory altogether; they treat the process of developing a theoretical framework as little more than the collection of a few corroborative empirical studies into what could pass for a literature review and proceed directly to collect data. They leave a concern for theory to “great men”, but they do so at the peril of poor work.’

(LeCompte, M. D. and Preissle, J. (1993) Ethnography and Qualitative Design in Educational Research, San Diego, CA., Academic Press)

What is theory?

Karr and Larson (2005):

use the terms theory and model interchangeably

define theory as “a general principle formulated to explain a group of related phenomena”

define model as “a description of the assumed structure of a set of observations”.

(Karr, C and Larson, L (2005) ‘Use of theory-driven research in counseling: investigating three counseling psychology journals from 1990-1999’ The Counseling Psychologist, 33, pp. 299-326)

What do I mean by ‘theory’?

universally–applicable explanation of why/how things occur

‘I realise that the word “theory” is used widely and loosely, and cannot hope to change that. I wish to distinguish the useful theory work from mere persiflage or worse’.

(Gorard, 2004)

Key components in the process of developing theory

in-depth analysis of findings

comparative analysis

seeking generalisability

seeking exceptions

conceptual clarity and definitional precision

The professional development process in individuals

Professional development is: the process whereby people’s professionalism and/or professionality may be considered to be enhanced.

What do we mean by ‘professionalism’?

What do we mean by ‘professionality’?

Professionality and professionalism

Eric Hoyle: professionalism - status-related

• the institutional component of professionalisation

professionality - knowledge, skills & procedures used in one’s work

• the service component of professionalisation

‘extended’-‘restricted’ professionality continuum

Professionality orientation: teachers

‘Restricted’ professionality

Skills derived from experience

Perspective limited to the immediate in time and place

Introspective with regard to methods

Value placed on autonomy

Infrequent reading of professional literature

Teaching seen as an intuitive activity

‘Extended’ professionality

Skills derived from a mediation between experience & theory

Perspective embracing the broader social context of education

Methods compared with those of colleagues and reports of practice

Value placed on professional collaboration

Regular reading of professional literature

Teaching seen as a rational activity

Eric Hoyle, Eric Hoyle, 19751975

The researcher located at the ‘restricted’ extreme of the professionality continuum typically:

The researcher located at the ‘extended’ extreme of the professionality continuum typically:

conducts research that lacks rigour; conducts highly rigorous research;

draws upon basic research skills; draws upon basic and advanced research skills;

fails to develop or extend her/his methodological competence; strives constantly to develop and extend her/his methodological competence;

utilises only established research methods; adapts established research methods and develops methodology;

fails to develop basic research findings; generates and develops theory from research findings;

perceives research methods as tools and methodology as a task-directed, utilitarian process;

perceives research methodology as a field of study in itself;

applies low level analysis to research data; strives constantly to apply deep levels of analysis to research data;

perceives individual research studies as independent and free-standing;

recognises the value of, and utilises, comparative analysis, meta-analysis, synthesis, replication, etc.;

perceives individual research studies as finite and complete; constantly reflects upon, and frequently revisits and refines, his/her own studies;

struggles to criticise literature and others’ research effectively; has developed the skill of effective criticism and applies this to the formulation of his/her own arguments;

publishes mainly in ‘lower grade’ academic journals and in professional journals/magazines;

publishes frequently in ‘high ranking’ academic journals;

is associated mainly with research findings that fall into the ‘tips for practitioners’ category of output.

disseminates ground-breaking theoretical issues and contributes to, and takes a lead in developing, discourse on theory.

‘Extended’ and ‘Restricted’ Researcher Professionality

OHS professionality orientation models

The OHS practitioner typically: relies heavily on the ideas or

practices that other OHS professionals in their professional network recommend, or which are prescribed by their managers, without wider evaluation.

uses intuition and experience as the guiding frameworks for OHS practice.

The OHS professional typically: considers ideas from a range of

sources including the tried and tested approaches of other OHS professionals and is aware of and draws upon the growing OHS evidence base, all the while evaluating all inputs for their applicability to the organisation and the industry in which the professional operates.

uses theoretical principles and applies them to practice as a framework for solving problems and making decisions while understanding the limitations of those theories in the reality of practice and compensating for those limitations with ideas gained from experience.

Suggested by Susan Leggett and David Borys, VIOSH

The ‘restricted’-’extended’ teacher professionality continuum

Professionality and professionalism

Professionality is: an ideologically-, attitudinally-, intellectually-, and epistemologically-based stance on the part of an individual, in relation to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences her/his professional practice.Evans, L. (2002) Reflective Practice in Educational Research (London, Continuum)

Hoyle (2008) ‘the service component of professionalism’

The concept of professionalism

Literature review: socially constructed contextually variable service level agreement defined externally defined by the professionals themselves constantly being redefined status homogeneity

Professionality and professionalism

Professionalism is: the ‘plural’ of professionality; professionality writ large; the amalgamation of individuals’ professionalities.

Professionalism is: professionality-influenced practice that is consistent with commonly-held consensual delineations of a specific profession and that both contributes to and reflects perceptions of the profession’s purpose and status and the specific nature, range and levels of service provided by, and expertise prevalent within, the profession, as well as the general ethical code underpinning this practice.

(Evans, L. (2008) ‘Professionalism, professionality and the development of education

professionals’, British Journal of Educational Studies, 56 (1), 20-38)

Professionalism and professionality

Professionality is: an ideologically-, attitudinally-, intellectually-, and epistemologically-based stance on the part of an individual, in relation to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences her/his professional practice.

Professionalism is: the perceived enactment of professionality-influenced practice that is consistent with commonly-held consensual delineations of a specific profession and that both contributes to and reflects perceptions of the profession’s purpose and status and the specific nature, range and levels of service provided by and expertise prevalent within the profession.

The substance of professionalism

A closer look at professionalism 2 main perspectives:

subjective professionalism objective professionalism

3 reified states of professionalism Professionalism that is demanded or requested

specific service level demands or requests Professionalism that is prescribed

envisaged or recommended service levels Professionalism that is enacted

as observed Only the 3rd of these is ‘real’

Key components of professionalism

Subjective professionalism

Functionalcomponent

Intellectualcomponent

Attitudinalcomponent

proceduraldimension

productivedimension

processualdimension

evaluativedimension

motivationaldimension

perceptionaldimension

epistemologicaldimension

rationalisticdimension

comprehensivedimension

intellectualcomponent

epistemologicaldimension

rationalisticdimension

comprehensivedimension

What is the basis of practitioners’ knowledge?

To what extent do practitioners apply reason to decision making?

What do practitioners know and understand?

Common sense and experience?Research and/or scholarship?

•In which disciplines/subjects?•What depth?•What width?•Contextual differences?

Is practice underpinned by rationality, intuition, or a mediation of the two?

What does the professional knowledge base comprise?Are there specialist areas?Are there minimum (general) practitioner knowledge requirements?

attitudinalcomponent

evaluativedimension

motivationaldimension

perceptualdimension

How do practitioners evaluate things(issues, situations, people, activity, etc.)?How do they evaluate their profession and its purpose?

How motivated are practitioners?What motivates them?

How do practitioners perceive things (issues, situations, people, activity, etc.)?How do they perceive their profession and its purpose?

What values do practitioners hold?How widespread/consensual are thesevalues?Are there any key/core values?

How motivated are practitioners?What motivates them?

What perceptions do practitionershold?What perceptions do they not hold?How widespread/consensual are specificperceptions?Are there any key/core perceptions?

functionalcomponent

proceduraldimension

productivedimension

processualdimension

What procedures do practitioners apply to their practice?What hierarchical procedures operate within the workforce?What stratification exists within the workforce?

What is the nature of practitioners’output?How much do practitionersproduce?What (if any) productive yardsticks guide them?

What processes do practitioners apply to their practice?

Mode(s) of communication?Mode(s) of implementing policy?Mode(s) of regulating?Mode(s) of innovating?How is responsibility distributed -for knowledge/role coverage?What layers of practice exist?

What do practitioners ‘do’ – their remit and responsibilities?Is their workload determined by the clock – set hours?Is workload determined by the task –in response to need?

Advising?Educating?Regulating?Policy analysis?Knowledge generation?Learning?Inter-institutional collegiality?

The professional development process

The process involves enhancing individuals’ professionality.progression along the professionality

continuum

What does the professional development process in individuals involve?

The professional development process in individuals

Recognition of work-related deficiency or imperfect situation

1

Recognition of perceived improved alternative (a better way)

2

Motivation to adopt perceived improved alternative (or better way)

3

Adoption of perceived better way

4

Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative

5

Recognition of new practice as an improvement

6

Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative

5

Linda Evans (2007)

The professional development process illustrated

‘We introduced a pattern whereby students read a paper and then presented their views about the paper. We split the large group into three mini groups of eight and saw each of the three groups for one-third of the two hours. So we saw them in rotation and they had the other two-thirds of that session to prepare the paper for the following Thursday session. And we weren't very happy ... we didn’t feel there was enough discussion going on … some of the students weren’t reading the paper in advance, as we’d asked them to. So we decided we needed to look again at that. So this current academic year, for the Thursday slot, we explicitly set it up as debates - still with the mini groups ... but we appointed two students from each of the mini groups to speak for a particular motion and two to speak against it, and the others to be witnesses, to interrogate the two sides. And we gave the students the motions for debate at the beginning of the term. They chose which of the ones they wanted to speak to ... . That’s been highly successful and I'm quite surprised how successful it's been this year. A lot of the students have said that's been the highlight of their four years here ... . That has really forced them to think critically and they've enjoyed it very much and got a lot out of it.’ (Anne, university lecturer)

The professional development process illustrated

We were all having to put up some displays with an ecology theme, and I got this idea from Jill [a colleague] which Jill thought was okay. … So I eventually managed to pick out the best and pinned them up on the wall outside – and they were there for two days, pinned up. Then I stapled them one night, and the following morning he [the headteacher] came in … and he was genuinely embarrassed … and he called me out of the classroom and he said, ‘I’m sorry, but it’s not good enough, so it’s got to come down.’ And he said, ‘But, don’t worry, Jill’s going to put some stuff there.’ Well, I was just absolutely demoralised – totally demoralised!

Interviewer: Why was it not good enough, did he say? Well, looking at other work … he just said, ‘For Year 5, it’s not good

enough; it’s not professional enough.’ And I realised that when I saw other people’s work. But I realised what they’d done … they’d just taken the best. It has to be ‘top show’, and you’ve to pick out your best children and get them to do something. And, to me, I personally don’t like that … because I don’t like top show. But, alright, the work produced was super… but, again, it’s knowing what to do. I was just lost.

(Evans, L. 1998, Teacher morale, job satisfaction and motivation, London, Paul Chapman, pp. 113-4)

The professional development process in individuals (model 1)

Recognition of work-related deficiency or imperfect situation

1

Recognition of perceived improved alternative (a better way)

2

Motivation to adopt perceived improved alternative (or better way)

3

Adoption of perceived better way

4

Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative

5

Recognition of new practice as an improvement

6

Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative

5

Linda Evans (2007)

The professional development process (model 2)

Recognition of a better way of doing things

1

Recognition of work-related deficiency or imperfect situation

2

Motivation to adopt perceived better way of doing things

3

Adoption of perceived better way

4

Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative

5

Recognition of new practice as an improvement

6

Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative

5

Linda Evans (2007) - work in progress

Definitions of professional development

Professional development is: the process whereby people’s professionalism and/or professionality may be considered to be enhanced.

Within this overarching definition, my current definition of individuals’ professional development is: the enhancement of their professionality, resulting from their acquisition, through a consciously or unconsciously applied mental internalisation process, of professional work-related knowledge and/or understanding and/or attitudes and/or skills and/or competences that, on the grounds of what is consciously or unconsciously considered to be its/their superiority, displace(s) and replace(s) previously-held professional work-related knowledge and/or understanding and/or attitudes and/or skills and/or competences. (Evans, 2008, work-in-progress)

The professional development process in individuals

Components: recognition that there’s an alternative

a better way ‘encountering’ a specific alternative evaluating the specific alternative recognising the specific alternative as a better way

implies recognition of the perceived relative inadequacies of previous practice/views/knowledge etc.

adoption of the perceived better way evaluation of the newly adopted practice/views/attitudes etc. as

better than what it/they replacedEvans (2008) work-in-progress

Professional development:an ontological model (2002)

ProfessionalDevelopment

AttitudinalDevelopment

FunctionalDevelopment

ProceduralChange

ProductiveChange

IntellectualChange

MotivationalChange

Professional development:an ontological model (2008)

(Evans, work in progress)

professional development

functionaldevelopment

intellectualdevelopment

attitudinaldevelopment

proceduralchange

productivechange

processualchange

evaluativechange

motivationalchange

perceptionalchange

epistemologicalchange

rationalisticchange

comprehensivechange

Issues for consideration

Does the model apply to all elements of professional development?

May each element involve a different process?

Is there a process that, at the lowest reductionist level, is applicable to all three elements? stimulus to modify professional practice, or

related attitudes, knowledge and/or understanding?