Revisiting the Role of Formal and Practical Knowledge from a Sociology of the Professions Perspective

Abstract

The article starts with the question of how the complexity of practical occupational knowledge is linked to and reflected in the vertical grading of an educational programme. The sociology of professional groups theory clearly differentiates between practical tacit knowledge and explicit formal knowledge, which is systemized in educational programmes. It presumes that those occupations whose practical work is more demanding and complex, such as doctors or lawyers, call for university programmes, while the educational programmes of other occupations (e.g. machine operators) appropriately remain at lower educational levels. This article studies whether or not this is really the case. It goes beyond this question and looks into the black box of practical occupational knowledge: required occupational competences, modes of learning and intellectuality of work. The article examines which of these elements are the most important for higher degrees of educational programmes. Finally, it develops a simple classification of occupations by the level of practical knowledge and a vertical formalization of the corresponding educational programme. For testing these confirmatory and exploratory hypotheses, the article uses a Slovenian pilot survey that encompasses 63 occupational groups with very diverse levels of formal education. The findings are put in the context of the Central European educational tradition (to which Slovenia belongs), where the accent on systematic, scientifically structured and theoretically grounded education persists.