The university contribution to professional education

Abstract

Controversies and confusions abound in both nursing and social work about the ‘level’ at which professional education should take place, and over the ‘qualitative’ differences between supposedly equivalent training experiences. These debates undermine confidence in the value of vocational education in universities and other higher education institutions. On both ‘level’ and ‘qualitative’ differences — though empirical evidence is lacking — a rational case could be made for a diversity of training routes. Universities have a particular contribution which is not concerned with the acquisition of a ‘knowledge base’ or the so-called ’integration’ of theory with practice. These are somewhat mythical notions which rest on a misconception of how theory, knowledge and practice are related. Good practice is an activity in which distinct orders of experience meet in a creative dialectic; each may lead the others. University training, by instilling a questioning approach to the contingent nature of knowledge, is most likely to equip practitioners to develop professional knowledge by systematic enquiry and critical thought.