013223 Professional Learning and Practice
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2021 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Postgraduate
Result type: Grade, no marksRequisite(s): 013220c Launching Learning
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 013160 Professional Learning and Practice
Description
This subject provides students with opportunities to explore contemporary approaches to understanding professional learning and practice being developed in Australia and internationally. Students learn to examine their own practices and professional contexts, understand them differently, and imagine possibilities for change. Students critically examine the different ways learning and practice are theorised and how these connect with key professional issues locally and globally. Students engage with leading international researchers on professional practices and learning to gain insights into how professionals learn and the links to organisational and workplace learning.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| a. | Identify the changing notions of professional learning and practice |
|---|---|
| b. | Critically evaluate contemporary perspectives on professional and workplace learning and practice |
| c. | Develop skills in researching professional learning and practice |
| d. | Evaluate the implications of these contemporary perspectives for learning/ educational interventions |
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject addresses the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes
1. Professional Readiness
1.1 Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the theoretical basis of learning and leading in practice
1.2 Make research-informed judgements about complex professional learning practice
1.5 Critically analyse and act on ongoing learning goals within professional contexts
2. Critical and Creative Inquiry
2.1 Demonstrate research literacy skills and design and execute investigations into complex learning, leading and/or innovation in a substantial independent project
2.2 Reflect critically on theory and professional practice using highly developed analytical skills
6. Effective Communication
6.1 Possess strong communication and interpersonal skills to mediate complex knowledge and skills for a variety of audiences
Teaching and learning strategies
Student learning in this subject combines virtual block workshops with independent student reading, group and individual participation in UTSOnline components. These tasks complement, support and help students prepare for face-to-face learning. The workshops provide opportunities for students to critically engage with the material, clarify, question, share and apply their learning in new ways, deliver presentations, provide and respond to peer feedback, and work together on authentic problems. Students will work with peers from both similar and different professional contexts. They will also have regular opportunities to receive formative feedback on assignment tasks both from their lecturers and peers, including early formative feedback.
To ensure practice-relevant and authentic outcomes, teaching and learning strategies for this subject involve students customising learning to suit their professional practice context. This occurs through students developing their individual learning goals, tailoring assessments to their focus practice context and through the Capability Wrap. As a first step in this process, students must complete their Subject Goals and Subject Wrap Task which is a compulsory (non-graded) task and a Minimum Requirement for this subject. In the Subject Learning Goals and Subject Wrap Task students develop 3-5 Subject Learning Goals for this subject. These Subject Learning Goals should articulate a vision for authentic learning that aligns with the stated subject learning objectives and content of the subject. In addition, students provide an explanation of these goals, referring explicitly to their professional context statement; their overall MyCourse Learning Goals, noting if these have changed. If previous subjects have been completed, clear links are made to show progression or change in focus. Students are encouraged to use this work to help complete the ‘wrap up’ for each previously studied subject.
Learning modules are available for students on Canvas which outline specifically what students are required to do before each Block Workshop and what will happen in each Workshop (i.e. how the preparation activities are incorporated into the collaborative learning activities in the class).
Content (topics)
This subject covers cutting edge approaches to understanding professional practice and learning being developed internationally. The content commences with an historical overview of different approaches to workplace and professional learning and then introduces students to contemporary perspectives. Students have an opportunity to engage with current international researchers in the field (face-to-face, through Skype/videoconferencing, and online discussion) about the perspectives used in their research on professional practice and learning in a range of work settings. The subject then covers ways to observe professional practice and learning in the student’s own workplaces and the implications of their findings for learning/ educational interventions. Details of the content are outlined in the Detailed Study Guide.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Case study analysis
| Objective(s): | a and b | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 2,000 words | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Investigating professional learning and practice
| Objective(s): | a, b, c and d | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 60% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 2,500 words | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
The satisfactory completion of the Subject Goals and Subject Wrap task by Week 4 is a minimum requirement for this subject as it is a key component of the Capability Wrap and a defining feature of this course. Failure to meet this requirement will result in the final assessment not being marked.
Required texts
A set of relevant readings, including recently published ebooks, is available on Canvas
References
Fenwick T., Edwards, R. & Sawchuk, P. 2011, Emerging approaches to educational research: tracing the socio-material, London, Routledge.
Fenwick, T. 2012, Matter-ings of knowing and doing: sociomaterial approaches to understanding practice. In P. Hager, A. Lee & A. Reich (eds.), Practice, learning and change: practice-theory perspectives on professional learning Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 67-83.
Fenwick, T. & Edwards, R, (eds) 2010, Actor-network theory in education, Routledge, London/ New York.
Gherardi, S. 2009, 'Knowing and learning in practice-based studies: an introduction', Learning Organization, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 352-359.
Gherardi, S. 2020, How to conduct a practice-based study: problems and methods, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.
Gherardi, S. 2012, ‘Why do practices change and why do they persist? Models of explanations’. In P. Hager, A. Lee & A. Reich (eds), Practice, learning and change: practice-theory perspectives on professional learning. Dordrecht: Springer, pp.217-231.
Green, B. 2009, 'Introduction: understanding and researching professional practice', in B. Green, (ed.), Understanding and researching professional practice, Rotterdam, Sense Publishers, pp. 1-18.
Green, B. & Hopwood, N, (eds), 2014, The body in professional practice, learning and education: body/practice, Dordrecht, Springer.
Hager, P., Lee. A. & Reich, A. (eds), 2012, Practice, learning and change: practice-theory perspectives on professional learning, Dordrecht, Springer.
Hager, P. 2011, 'Theories of workplace learning', in M. Malloch, L. Cairns, K. Evans & B. O'Connor (eds), The SAGE handbook of workplace learning, SAGE Publications, London, pp. 17-31.
Hopwood, N., 2016, Professional practice and learning: times, spaces, bodies, things. Springer Press, London.
Hopwood, N., 2016, ‘Expertise, learning, and agency in partnership practices in services for families with young children’. In A. Edwards (ed.), Collaborating on complex problems: cultural historical accounts of relational work. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hopwood, N., 2014, Four essential dimensions of workplace learning, Journal of Workplace Learning.
Hopwood, N & Clerke T. 2012, Partnership and pedagogy in child and family health practice: a resource for professionals, educators and students, Hertsellung, Lambert Academic Publishing.
Manidis, M. & Scheeres, H. 2013, Practising knowing: emergence(y) teleologies, Educational Philosophy & Theory, vol.45. no. 12, pp. 1230-1251.
Manidis, M. & Scheeres, H. 2012,’Towards understanding workplace learning through theorising practice: at work in hospital emergency departments’. In P. Hager, A. Lee & A. Reich (eds.), Practice, learning and change: practice-theory perspectives on professional learning Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 103-118.
Nicolini, D. 2009, ‘Zooming in and zooming out: studying practices by switching theoretical lenses and trailing connections’, Organization Studies vol. 30, no. 12, pp. 1391-1418.
Reich, A & Hager, P. 2014, 'Problematising practice, learning and change: Practice-theory perspectives on professional learning', Journal of Workplace Learning, vol.26, no. 6/7, pp. 418-431.
Reich, A., Rooney, D. & Hopwood, N. forthcoming, 'Sociomaterial perspectives on wrok and learning: Sitesof emergent learning', Journal of Workpalce Learning.
Reich, A., Rooney, D., Gardner, A., Willey, K., Boud, D. & Fitzgerald, T. 2015, ‘Engineers professional learning: a practice-theory perspective’, European Journal of Engineering Education, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2014.967181
Rooney, D., Willey, K., Gardner, A., Boud, D., Reich, A. & Fitzgerald, T. 2014, ‘Engineers professional learning: Through the lens of practice’. In W.B Figeiredo & J. Trevelyan (Eds) Engineering practice in a global context: Understanding the technical and the social. (pp. 265-280). Leiden: CRC Press/ Balkema.
Schatzki, T. R. 2012, ‘A primer on practices’. In J. Higgs, R. Barnett, S. Billett, M. Hutchings & F. Trede (Eds.), Practice-based education: perspectives and strategies, Sense, Rotterdam, pp. 13-26.
Schatzki, T. 2006, 'On organizations as they happen', Organization Studies, Vol. 27, No. 12, pp. 1863-1873.
Other resources
Other resources, such as videos, podcasts and other online resources are available on Canvas .