Abstract
Higher Education is seen as having an expanding responsibility to prepare students for employment. Many of the subject areas taught are linked with particular professions, such as in law, business, engineering and health, and academics may have experience working in the profession before teaching. Professional bodies have input into the curriculum and assessment design, and academic research supports the developing of practice in all areas. This paper draws together and reviews some of the practice and theoretical perspectives of this merging of worlds. The practice elements of the paper reflect work embedded in module development in Liverpool John Moores University in the North West of England. The focus will be situated in the area of authentic assessment and its role within professional practice. The paper will first explore the meaning of professional practice, then use activity theory, in particular boundary crossing, as a framework for a discussion of practice implications.
Highlights
The idea of professional practice can be defined and explored in a number of ways. Segon (2014, p.14) takes us back to Flexner 1910 description of the attributes of professional practice: 1. Possess and draw upon a store of knowledge that was more ordinary than complex 2
The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) skills and behavioural framework for practitioners is embedded into the academic delivery of modules within an accredited programme such as the BA (Hons) Human Resource Management used in the case examples within this paper
CIPD have emphasised the demonstration of business acumen in human resource (HR) practitioners and recognises (CIPD, 2018) the importance of integrating professional practice into the Higher Education curriculum to prepare students for employment
Summary
The idea of professional practice can be defined and explored in a number of ways. Segon (2014, p.14) takes us back to Flexner 1910 description of the attributes of professional practice: 1. Possess and draw upon a store of knowledge that was more ordinary than complex 2. The idea of professional practice can be defined and explored in a number of ways. Segon (2014, p.14) takes us back to Flexner 1910 description of the attributes of professional practice: 1. Possess and draw upon a store of knowledge that was more ordinary than complex 2. Its theoretical and complex knowledge to the practical solution of human and social problems 4. Strive to add and improve its stock of knowledge 5. Pass on what it knew to novice generations not in a haphazard fashion but deliberately and formally 6. Legitimate practice and proper conduct and 7. What was once seen as quite a static notion of professional practice of skills and knowledge applied to a relatively stable.
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