In a world where being a 'professional' is an increasingly indistinct notion under siege from scholars and educated laypeople, this interdisciplinary volume advocates the metaphor of 'becoming' as an lifelong process of forming one's professional identity.

This book is founded on the idea that 'becoming' is the most useful defining concept for a new 'professional' class whose members understand that development in their working lives is an open-ended, lifelong process of refinement and learning.In a world where being a 'professional' is an increasingly indistinct notion and where better education and technology are challenging 'professional' norms, it is imperative that we no longer think in terms of an exclusive, 'Anglo-American', knowledge-rich class of workers. Exploring the implications of this insight for professions including nursing, teaching, social work, engineering and the clergy, this volume aims to encourage informed debate on what it means to be a 'professional' in this globalised 21st century.The book argues that 'becoming' a professional is a lifelong process in which individual professional identities are constructed through formal education, workplace interactions and popular culture. The book advocates the 'ongoingness' of developing a professional self throughout one's professional life. What emerges is a concept of becoming a professional different from the isolated, rugged, individualistic approach to traditional professional practice as represented in popular culture. It is a book for the reflective professional.

Posits 'becoming' as a theory of emergent, iterative professional identity formation Defines 'becoming' as a metaphor for learning Advocates an interdisciplinary, international approach to 'becoming' Positions 'becoming' within an extensive, multidisciplinary review of the literature Explores 'becoming' in today's globalised world where professional status is consistently challenged Examines the role of popular culture in forming professional identity as well as societal expectations of professionals

Klappentext

'Becoming' is used in this interdisciplinary work as an emergent, iterative concept of professional identity formation. The conceptual framework of 'becoming', as well as the arguments in the book are intended to encourage professionalsand those engaged in their educationto reflect on what it means to be a 'professional' in the twenty-first century, an era dominated by the discourses of globalisation, 'new mangerialism', multiculturalism and deprofessionalisation. We live in a world where not only scholars, but also a better educated client base informed by technological innovations, have issued unprecedented challenges to the traditional professional ideal. The once paradigmatic identity of the superiority of the Anglo-American professional, grounded in an exclusive knowledge-base and an altruistic 'public-service' principle, are no longer tenable.

The book will generate dialogue about the nature of professionalism through a multidisciplinary lens in chapters on medicine, nursing and teaching and in reference to social work, the clergy and engineering. Here, becoming a professional is a lifelong, extended process that constructs an individual's professional identity through formal education, workplace interactions and popular culture. It advocates the 'ongoing' modality of developing a professional self throughout one's professional life. What emerges from this work is a concept of becoming a professional that is quite different from the isolated, rugged, individualistic approach to traditional professional practice as represented in popular culture. It is a book for the reflective professional.

Inhalt

Editorial by Series Editors; David Aspin and Judith Chapman .- Introduction; Lesley Scanlon .- 'Becoming' a Professional ; Lesley Scanlon .- Becoming as an Appropriate Metaphor for Understanding Professional Learning; Paul Hager and Phil Hodkinson .- Learning To Be At Work; David Beckett .- Higher Education and Becoming a Professional; Madeleine Abrandt Dahlgren .- Becoming Authentic Professionals: Learning for Authenticity; Thuy T Vu and Gloria Dall'Alba .- White Coats, Handmaidens and Warrior Chiefs - the Role of Filmic Representations in Becoming a Professional; Lesley Scanlon .- Becoming a Medical Professional; Alan Bleakley .- Professional Practice and Doctoral Education - Becoming a Researcher; Alison Lee .- Becoming a Professional Doctor; Kirsty Foster .- Becoming a Professional Nurse; Jane Davey and Sandie Bredemeyer .- Teacher Professional Becoming - A Practice-based, Actor-network Theory Perspective; Dianne Mulcahy .- And the Conclusion for Now is ?; Lesley Scanlon .- Biographies.- Index.