Positioning health professional identity: on-campus training and work-based learning
Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning
ISSN: 2042-3896
Article publication date: 14 August 2017
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on positioning theory, the purpose of this paper is to characterize the activities and positions of students and supervisors at workplaces and on-campus skills training sites across the higher health professional educations of medicine, sports science, and nursing. Furthermore, the study explored the impact of work-based learning (WBL) and skills training on students’ personal professional identity development.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative case study was conducted across six workplace sites and three on-campus skills training sites with 20 days of observation and 21 in-depth interviews. The data were inductively analyzed resulting in the identification of 12 characteristic narratives. This was followed by abductive analysis using Harré’s concept of positioning as the theoretical framework.
Findings
Across the three higher health professional educations, work-based and on-campus skills training sites were characterized by two learning spaces with distinct positions, rights, and duties. The WBL sites gave the students rich opportunities to position themselves, act independently, and behave as professionals seriously striving for mastery. On the on-campus sites, the students behaved less seriously, and were conscious of their rights to try out things, get support, and have fun.
Research limitations/implications
The authors recommend that future studies explore aspects of professional identity formation due to its consequences for curriculum design, including the distribution of simulated spaces and professional spaces in students’ learning environments.
Originality/value
This study adds to the empirical evidence and conceptual frameworks of personal and shared professional identity development in the field of skills and WBL, and it underlines the ongoing value of Harré’s positioning theory in educational research.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Aarhus University and VIA University College, but received no further funding. Authors have no financial interest in the project. The authors wish to acknowledge the students and teachers that readily put their educational settings and expertise at the authors’ disposal in the research project.
Citation
Christensen, M.K., Henriksen, J., Thomsen, K.R., Lund, O. and Mørcke, A.M. (2017), "Positioning health professional identity: on-campus training and work-based learning", Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 275-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-01-2017-0004
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited