Researching Professional Practice: Transforming theory, policy, practice, 7,5 ECTS

Studera en professionell praktik: ett åskådar- och ett deltagarperspektiv 7,5 hp

Forskarnivå/Third cycle

1. Confirmation The syllabus was confirmed by the Faculty Board of Educational Sciences on 2010-02-2 to be valid from spring Autumn 2010. Field of Education: Educational Sciences Responsible department: Department of Education and Specialeducation 2. Position in the educational system The course, Researching Professional Practice,is a one of several single courses included in the PhD programme within the Faculty of Educational Sciences. 3. Entrance qualifications To enter the course students have to be registered in a PhD programme in Educational Sciences 4. Course content This course considers the nature of professional practice. In particular, it will explore different ways of researching continuities and transformations of educational theory, policy and practice. On each day of the course, leading researchers exploring professional practice will introduce two or three pre-circulated papers (or chapters) they have written, and they will then respond to doctoral candidates´ comments and criticisms. In addition, candidates in the course will present progress reports on their own research, relating the substance of their research to the ideas and concepts explored in the different texts provided, allowing them to critically interrogate

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their own work and their own understandings of professional practice in the fields they are investigating. The authors invited to participate in the course have been chosen because they have been active contributors to recent research and scholarship about the nature of professional practice and research into professional practice. 5. Learning outcomes At the completing the the course, the students will be able to

• identify the diversity of views about the nature of professional practice, • acquire knowledge in the strengths and weaknesses of alternative

approaches to the study of professional practice, including research about transforming theory, policy and practice

• critically be able to analyse and discuss theoretical and practical discourses in the field, and

• acquire knowledge in how to relate own research to different perspectives on practice and research into practice, and

• to justify the choice of approaches to studying practice appropriate to different needs and circumstances.

6. Required reading List of required reading enclosed in Appendix A 7. Assessment Assessment will be based on course leaders’ evaluations of candidates’ contributions to the course, taking into account

• An oral presentation of each candidate’s own research by using ICT • An individually written reflection about the concepts used in the texts (and

arising in discussion) in relation to the candidate’s own research, submitted within two weeks of the conclusion of the course

• The responsibility candidates take for a variety of set tasks during the course, including leading critical discussion of a set chapter/article (including a response to the introduction given by the author of the text), chairing discussion groups and plenary sessions, and participating in evaluation of the course; and

• Candidates’ active participation in all course activities 8. Grading scale The grades are Pass or Fail. 9. Course evaluation An evaluation of the course will be conducted orally in the final session of the course, led by three doctoral candidates who will facilitate evaluation activities

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through the week and in the concluding session. At the end of the discussion, participating students will present an oral report of their discussions and views to the leaders. The results of the evaluation will be communicated to the students and will function as a guide for the development of the course. 10. Additional information The course will be conducted in English. There will be places in the course for up to 24 doctoral candidates who will be divided into working groups of about 8 participants. The course will be held over five days, Thursday November 22 to Wednesday November 28, 2012. Participants are advised to arrive the previous day. The course will be held at a venue close to Griffith University, Gold Coast campus, New South Wales, Australia, probably at Palm Beach. Travel and accommodation are the responsibility of participants. The course organisers can assist with advice about accommodation options on the Gold Coast. The doctoral candidates will present and discuss their own ongoing research in a 45-minute session devoted to discussion of their research (aiming for 15 minutes presentation, 30 minutes discussion); these seminars will be chaired by two of the candidates in the course, and attended by members of the course leadership team who will assess presentations. For research presentations and additional discussions, candidates will work in groups (staying in one group for the week). For discussions readings with authors, candidates will meet in plenary session (the whole group), with nominated candidates chairing sessions and leading critical discussions. This course will be given in collaboration between the University of Gothenburg with Charles Sturt University, Griffith University and the University of Western Ontario. Course organiser and information for Swedish/Nordic/European participants : Course contact: Professor and director of postgraduate studies Karin Rönnerman, Department of Education and Special Education, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Email: karin.ronnerman@ped.gu.se Local support: Associate Professor Peter Grootenboer, School of Education and Professional Studies, Gold Coast campus, Griffith University, QLD 4222, Australia. Email: p.grootenboer@griffith.edu.au Dr Jane Wilkinson, School of Education, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia. Email: jawilkinson@csu.edu.au

Appendix A

Literature Green, Bill (2009). (Ed). Understanding and researching professional practice.

Rotterdam: Sense. (185 s) Billett, Stephen (2011). Learning in the circumstances of work: the didactics of practice.

Education and Didactique 5(2), 129-149. (20s) Billett, Stephen (2010). Learning through practice. In S. Billett (Ed). Learning through

practice: Models, traditions, orientations and approaches (pp. 1-20), Springer, Dodrecht. (20 s).

Dall’Alba, Gloria (2009). Learning to be Professionals, Innovation and Change in Professional Education 4. Springer (160s).

Dall’Alba, Gloria & Sandberg, Jörgen (2010). Learning through and about Practice: A Lifeworld PerspectiveIn S. Billett (ed.), Learning Through Practice, Professional and Practice-based Learning. Springer, Dodrecht.

Groundwater Smith, Susan, Mitchell, Jane, Mockler, Nicole, Ponte, Petra & Rönnerman, Karin (2012). Facilitating practitioner research: Developing transformational partnerships. London: Routledge. Chapter 1: Facilitating practitioner research: Developing transformational partnerships, Chaper 3: Politics, Chapter 4: Sustainability, Chapter 6: Communicability, Chapter 7: Facilitation of transformative research partnerships as praxis: Bundling concepts, perspectives and experiences. (55 s)

Hardy,  Ian(2010)  'Academic  architectures:  academic  perceptions  of  teaching  conditions  in  an  Australian  university',  Studies  in  Higher  Education,  35  (4),  391  —  404  (20s)  

Hardy, Ian & Rönnerman, Karin (2011). The value and valuing of continuing professional development: Current dilemmas, future directions and the case for action research. Cambridge Journal of Education 41(4), 461-472. (21 s)

Kemmis, Stephen, Edwards Groves, Christine, Wilkinson, Jane, Hardy, Ian, Bristol, aurette. & Grootenboer, Peter (in preparation, 2012). Revitalising education: Leading, learning and ecologies of practices. (Chapter 4: Praxis, practice and practice architectures and Chapter 5: Learning practices: Learning as initiation into practices) (75 s)

Kinsella, E. Anne & Pitman, Alan (Eds). Phronesis as professional knowledge: Practical wisdom in the professions. Rotterdam: Sense. Chapter 10: Professionalism and professionalisation: Hostile ground for growing phronesis? (pp.131-146) and Chapter 12: Phronesis as professional knowledge: Implications for education and practice (pp.163-172). (25 s)