Knowledge creation and knowledge use in professioal contexts

Abstract

This paper presents a radical reconceptualisation of the theory-practice problem in initial and continuing professional education, based on considering the influence of academic and professional contexts on knowledge operation and knowledge use. The first part is concerned with making important conceptual distinctions, the second with implications for the practice of professional education and the relationships between higher education and the professions. The conceptual section of the paper first distinguishes different kinds of professional knowledge with particular attention to generalisability (knowledge of particular cases, knowledge of precepts, knowledge of theory) and explicitness (codified knowledge, knowledge embedded in traditions, craft Knowledge, tacit knowledge, etc.). Then it takes Broudy's four modes of knowledge use—replication, application, interpretation, association—and illustrates their significance for understanding the theory-practice relationship in a number of professions. Finally it examines the influence of different contexts of knowledge use, such as research publications, academic coursework, policy-making, case conferences and personal action. It is argued that these contexts are especially important, because ideas become clarified and personalised during use; and have only limited meaning prior to use. Thus the context of use affects the way an idea is understood and there is only limited transfer of understanding between contexts. New knowledge is created both in the research community and in each professional community. But each places different valuations on different kinds of knowledge in a way that minimises their interpenetration. The particularistic nature of knowledge gained by practising professionals presents yet another barrier to knowledge creation: both its exchange with other professionals and its incorporation into theory are limited by its specificity, and often by its implicitness. Higher education needs to develop an additional role to that of creator and transmitter of generalisable knowledge—that of enhancing the knowledge creation capacity of individuals and professional communities. This implies recognising that much of the relevant expertise lies outside the higher education system, but its development is limited by the lack of appropriate structures for knowledge exchange between higher education and the professions. This is matched by the lack of appropriate opportunities for mid-career professional education, whereby professionals can both (1) reflect on their experience, make it more explicit through having to share it, interpret it and recognise it as a basis for future learning; and (2) escape from their experience in the sense of challenging traditional assumptions and acquiring new perspectives. The practical implications for initial and continuing professional education are explored in the light of the foregoing analysis.