Writing for Professional Development: A Book Review

Abstract

Professionals from a variety of fields, ranging from nursing to engineering, write on the jobto communicate effectively in their respective fields. Writing to Learn the Profession andLearning to Write Professionally are two key approaches that are brought into conversation inthis book. With an audience that includes vocational education teachers, teacher trainersacross the disciplines, professional training programmes, and authors of pre-professionalcurricula, the book's subtitle, "Creating a professional identity at work through reflectivewriting," could have been a good fit. As part of the latest volume in their Studies in Writingseries, Ortoleva, Bétrancourt, and Billett bring together an international group of scholars toexamine the writing skills and rhetorical sensitivities that students need to develop as theyprogress through the stages of their professional development. With a particular emphasis onvocational education courses in fields ranging from midwifery to baking, this book providesone of the first comprehensive examinations of what students require, what employers expect,and how teachers are attempting to assist students in better realising their professionalaspirations through writing.