The Apparent Conflict between Commitment to the Development of the Profession and the Imperatives of the Academy

Abstract

This article gives an account of research that compares the practices of social work educators in England with those of academics working as educators on professional courses for nurses, teachers and doctors. It includes a framework for analysing professional education work, which conceptualises the educators as second order practitioners. The findings of the study show that similar missions, composed of four elements—teaching in higher education (HE), research or scholarship, contribution to the original professional field, and service to the university—underpinned professional practices. Other similarities across the four groups included: engagement in complex pedagogies; struggling to engage in ‘valid’ research; and perceptions that their departments had low status in HE. The study shows the tensions created for professional educators when they attempt to meet the imperatives of both HE and their original professional fields. The findings illuminate generic issues about what is termed second order practice, and indicate directions for developing social work education.

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