Emerald | Journal of Workplace Learning | Table of Contents

Understanding transitions in professional practice and learning: towards new questions for research

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Tara Fenwick) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this article is to critically examine, within the context of professional practice and learning, diverse theoretical approaches that are currently prominent in researching transitions and to propose future directions for research. Much research to date on professional transitions has focused on predicting them and then preparing individual practitioners to navigate transitions as sites of struggle.Design/methodology/approach - The article begins by describing work contexts integral with professional transitions: regulation, governance and accountability; new work structures; and knowledge development. The discussion then examines transitions research in developmental psychology, lifecourse sociology, and career studies. These perspectives are compared critically in terms of questions and approaches, contributions to understanding professional transitions, and limitations. Findings - The implications for educators are a series of critical questions about research and education directed to support transitions in professional learning and work. Future directions and questions for research in professional transitions are suggested in the final section, along with implications for supporting professional learning in these transitions. Originality/value - The article is not intended to be comprehensive, but to identify issues for the reader’s consideration in thinking critically about various forms of transition being experienced by professions and professionals. The discussion is theory-based, exploratory, and indicative rather than definitive.

Transitions in medicine: trainee doctor stress and support mechanisms

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - This paper describes experiences of transition from medical school to new doctor in the UK and examines the development and evaluation of initiatives designed to lessen anxiety and assist transition. Design/methodology/approach - The evaluations of two recent interventions for new doctors are reported, one at organisational and one at the individual level: (i) a longer induction programme; and (ii) provision of a library of medical textbooks on smartphones (the "iDoc" project). The paper also reports on mindfulness training designed to help trainees’ well-being.Findings - These initiatives address different aspects of transition challenges (related to roles and responsibilities, cognitive and environmental factors). Benefit can be gained from multiple approaches to supporting this time of uncertainty. Research limitations/implications - The development, piloting, evaluation and implementation of these initiatives is not currently part of a collaborative programme to support transition. Further work is needed to research the impact of a multi-pronged support strategy. Practical implications - Given the link between transition, doctor stress and patient safety, there is a need to review existing strategies to ameliorate the stress associated with transition and seek novel ways to support new doctors. We argue that diverse approaches, targeted at both the organisational and individual level, can support new trainees both practically and emotionally. Originality/value - The paper reports initiatives that support transition, of value to medical schools, deaneries, researchers and trainees themselves.

Responsibility matters: putting illness back into the picture

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Sue Kilminster, Miriam Zukas) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Purpose: This paper will explore specific instances of junior doctors’ responsibility. Learning is often understood to be prerequisite for managing responsibility and risk but this paper will argue that this is insufficient because learning is integral to the management of responsibility and risk.Design/methodology/approach - A ‘collective’ case study of doctors designed to focus on the interrelationships between individual professionals and complex work settings. We focussed on two key points of transition: the transition to beginning clinical practice which is the move from medical student to foundation training (F1) and the transition from generalist to specialist clinical practice.Findings - Responsibility in clinical settings is immediate, concrete, demands response and (in) action has an effect. Responsibility is learnt and is not always apparent; it shifts depending on time of day/night and who else is present. Responsibility does not necessarily increase incrementally and can decrease; it can be perceived differently by different actors; Responsibility is experienced as personal although it is distributed.Originality/value - This detailed examination of practice has enabled us to foreground the particularities, urgency and fluidity of everyday clinical practice. It recasts our understandings of responsibility – and managing risk – as involving learning in practice. This is a critical insight because it suggests that the theoretical basis for the current approach to managing risk and responsibility is insufficient. This has significant implications policy, employment education and practice of new doctors and the management of responsibility and risk.

Social Work: A Profession in Flux

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Brigid Daniel) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe the current context of social work as a profession and to consider some of the major transition factors that are affecting social workers and social work organisations. Design/methodology/approach - The paper first explores what social work is, and how it has developed as a profession. It reflects on social work academia and the place of social work educators and researchers. It then goes on to consider three factors that are having a major influence on social work as a profession: concepts of risk; personalisation and the multi-disciplinary environment. Findings - The implications of these factors and the kind of transitions they are driving are discussed and some implications for professional learning are suggested. Research limitations/implications - The paper does not aim to provide a comprehensive overview of all the factors that are affecting contemporary social work – the aim is to offer contextual information to help the reader consider some of the forces at play in social work. The paper does not introduce new empirical evidence, rather it identifies gaps in the existing evidence about these key influential factors. Practical implications - Some suggestions for the education of social workers is provided, but they are not exhaustive and further implications could be developed.Originality/value - This paper draws from the empitical and conceptual work of others - here the aim is to provide a broad overall context within which to consider the more detailed implications set out in further papers in the edition.

Complex transition and uncertain trajectories: reflections on recent developments in police professionalism

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Nick Fyfe) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The paper focuses on current debates about police professionalism. It explores the nature and meaning of what has been termed ‘old’ professionalism which focuses on the role of the police as ‘professional crime fighters’ and then assesses the extent to which there has been a transition to a ‘new’ professionalism based centred around enhanced accountability, legitimacy and evidence-based practice. The paper aims to show how the recent attempt to embed this ‘new’ professionalism within policing in England and Wales is likely to be compromised by the broader political and economic context of police reform.Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on a review of key contributions to the debates about police professionalism in the United States and the United Kingdom.Findings - the paper provides important insights into the way in which there are competing and conflicting meanings attached to police professionalism and that claims that there have been significant transitions from one form of professionalism to another need to be treated with caution. The paper also emphasises the uncertain trajectory of the development of police professionalism in England and Wales in the future as a result of the complex interplay between the different elements of the coalition government’s police reform programme.Originality/value - The paper demonstrates the multiple meanings of the term police professionalism and the challenges that surround developing professional policing.