Navigating the wilderness of becoming professional

Mary C. Johnsson · Paul J. Hager

72 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Workplace Learning

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Innovative Education and Learning Practices Diverse Music Education Insights Higher Education and Employability

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine the nature of learning discovered by recent graduates participating in a symphony orchestra‐initiated development program that is designed to nurture them through the transition to becoming professional orchestral musicians. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors interviewed developing musicians and professional musician mentors individually and in small groups using a semi‐structured protocol. Interviews were audio‐taped and transcribed. The authors also observed musicians working together in rehearsal and in concert performance and reviewed documents on the development program, the organisation and the Australian performing arts industry. Findings The findings suggest that learning is better conceptualised as an embodied constructed experience with others in context. What the authors call “guided contextualising” differs from conventional discussions of skill‐based novice learning and mentorship. For musicians, the competency that is being developed is one of learning how to become, forming a sense of identity as broader musical citizens as well as becoming members of more instrumental communities. Practical implications The design and structure of the program (and alternatives emerging overseas) suggest possibilities for new collaborations towards “a living curriculum” between higher education and industry. Originality/value Rather than “employability”, the concept of “graduateness” for young adults is formative and transformative, a process that involves the seeking of various forms of identity and contextualised learning that transcends self. “Becoming” practitioners together in generative ways enhances fitness for professional practice and develops a commitment to lifelong learning.

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References

1994Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation.1991Situated Learning 1978Social Learning Theory.2005The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory 1985Mentoring at Work: Developmental Relationships in Organizational Life.2003Employability in a Knowledge-driven Economy 2005Learning as peripheral participation in communities of practice: a reassessment of key concepts in workplace learning 2003Learning as Apprentices in the Contemporary UK Workplace: creating and managing expansive and restrictive participation

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2016Be(com)ing a Conference Interpreter 2009Learning to become a professional orchestral musician: going beyond skill and technique 2015Be(com)ing a conference interpreter - An ethnography of EU interpreters as a professional community 2012Collective Learning Practice 2021Hard Work and Hopefulness: A Mixed Methods Study of Music Students’ Status and Beliefs in Relation to Health, Wellbeing, and Success as They Enter Specialized Higher Education

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