The purpose of this research was to investigate how knowledge becomes meaningful in professional practice across four different professions. Eighty semistructured interviews were conducted with social workers, lawyers, adult educators, and nurses who had attended continuing education programs 9 to 24 months previously. Findings indicate that professionals make meaning by moving back and forth between continuing professional education programs and their professional practice. In addition, each profession studied framed their meaning-making process through an understanding of the nature of their professional work. Implications for research and practice in continuing professional education are drawn.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ausubel, D. P.
, Novak, J. D., & Hanesian, H. (1986). Educational psychology: A cognitive view (2nd ed.). New York: Werbel and Peck.
2.
Benner, P.
(1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
3.
Black, R.
, & Schell, J. (1995). Learning within a situated cognition framework: Implications for adult learning. Paper presented at the American Vocational Association Convention, Denver, CO. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 389 939)
4.
Bredo, E.
(1994). Reconstructing educational psychology: Situated cognition and Deweyian pragmatism. Educational Psychologist, 29(1), 23-35.
5.
Broad, M. L.
, & Newstrom, J. W. (1992). Transfer of training. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
6.
Brown, J. S.
, Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989, January/February). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 32-43.
7.
Brunner, J.
(1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
8.
Cervero, R.
(1988). Effective continuing education for professionals. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
9.
Daley, B.
(1997). Creating mosaics: The interrelationships of knowledge and context. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 28(3), 102-114.
10.
Daley, B.
(2000). Learning in professional practice. In V. W. Mott & B. J. Daley (Eds.), Charting a course for continuing professional education: Reframing professional Practice (pp. 33-42). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
11.
Detterman, D. K.
(1993). The care for the prosecution: Transfer as an epiphenomenon. In D. K. Detterman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition and instruction (pp. 25-38). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
12.
Dreyfus, H. L.
, & Dreyfus, S. E. (1986). Mind over machine. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
13.
Eraut, M.
(1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. Washington, DC: Falmer.
14.
Fenwick, T.
(2000). Expanding conceptions of experiential learning: A review of the five contemporary perspectives on cognition. Adult Education Quarterly, 50(4), 243-272.
15.
Glaser, B. G.
, & Strauss, A. L. (1973). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.
16.
Grzyb, S.
(1997). Effects of organizational role and culture on participation in continuing professional education. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 409 284)
17.
Guba, E.
, & Lincoln, Y. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
18.
Hall, G.
, & Loucks, S. (1981). Investigating program implementation: A field perspective. Research on concerns-based adoption. Paper presented at a conference on Documentation of School Improvement Efforts, Pittsburgh, PA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 226 453)
19.
Houle, C. O.
(1980). Continuing learning in the professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
20.
Jarvis, P.
(1999). The practitioner-researcher: Developing theory from practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
21.
John-Steiner, V.
, & Souberman, E. (1978). Afterward. In L. S. Vygotsky (Ed.), Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
22.
Lambert, L.
, Walker, D., Zimmerman, D., Cooper, J., Lambert, M. D., Gardner, M. E., & Ford-Slack, P. J. (1995). The constructivist leaderNew York: Teachers College Press.
23.
Lave, J.
, & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
24.
Lincoln, Y.
, & Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
25.
Lockyer, J.
(1991). What do we know about adoption of innovation?The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 12, 33-38.
26.
Merriam, S. B.
, & Caffarella, R. S. (1999). Learning in adulthood. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
27.
Mezirow, J.
(1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
28.
Mezirow, J.
, & Associates. (2000). Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
29.
Miles, M.
, & Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
30.
Mott, V.
, & Daley, B. (Eds.). (2000). Charting a course for continuing professional education: Reframing professional practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
31.
Novak, J.
(1998). Learning, creating and using knowledge: Concept Maps™ as facilitative tools in schools and corporations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
32.
Novak, J.
, & Gowin, B. (1984). Learning how to learn. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
33.
Ottoson, J. M.
(1995). Reclaiming the concept of application: From social to technological process and back again. Adult Education Quarterly, 46(1), 17-30.
34.
Patton, M.
(1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
35.
Piaget, J.
(1966). The psychology of intelligence. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams.
36.
Rogers, E. M.
(1995). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press.
37.
Roth, W. M.
(1994). Experimenting in a constructivist high school physics laboratory. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31(2), 197-223.
38.
Rowden, R.
(Ed.). (1996). Workplace learning: Debating five critical questions of theory and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
39.
Saunders, W.
(1992). The constructivist perspective: Implications and teaching strategies for science. School Science and Mathematics, 92(3), 136-141.
40.
Schön, D. A.
(1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new designfor teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
41.
Vygotsky, L. S.
(1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
42.
Wilson, A.
(1993). The promise of situated cognition. In S. B. Merriam (Ed.), An update of adult learning theory (pp. 71-79). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
