Professions, Competence and Informal Learning

Citation

Alder, C. (2006), "Professions, Competence and Informal Learning", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 164-165. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850610659436

For a book in which a major part is given over to sociological considerations, the authors have what may be thought of as unusual initial backgrounds. Graham Cheetham started out as a Chartered Engineer before moving over to policy work in the general area of CPD and HRD for both the UK Government and in an academic setting. Geoff Chivers made the journey from chemist to Professor of Professional Development at Loughborough University, via a similar post at the University of Sheffield. They have an established track record of publication in the field of professional learning and development.

Put very briefly this book summarizes the development and application of a model of professional development based upon considerable empirical research. That might make it seem as if it is a dry academic work, and indeed it is written in an academically respectable fashion, with care given to the proper definition of significant terms as they are introduced, and building upon a large body of literature beyond that of the author's own. However, it is far more than that nutshell encapsulates, as it is also solidly grounded in the implications for practice for both individual professionals and those charged with developing professionals through formal programmes. It is also a very good read.

For those unsure of the historical evolution of professions, and thus their own place in a professional context, the opening chapters provide a fascinating potted history of professional development, including the essential definition of what a profession is. The core of the book is in the central two parts. The first of which develops the theme of professional competence: what it is, and how do professionals achieve it. Interwoven within the discussion is the development of the author's own model of competence, based upon much practical research. Along the way, current orthodoxies such as “reflective practice” are subject to scrutiny. Section three reviews and analyses a wide range of current learning theories familiar to development professionals. This analysis is illuminated by the author's own investigations into how professionals actually do learn. There is an interesting emphasis on the informal learning that forms the core of much real professional development as well as consideration of the implications for the more formal development of professionals.

The closing part is something of a look into the future, including a succinct review of the international scene. The changing nature of professions and their future in the modern competitive and high‐pressure working environment concludes the book.

This book ought to appeal to a diverse readership: Those simply interested in their place in society as professionals and wishing to further develop themselves, those for whom the development of other professionals is their own professional interest, and those with an academic interest in the development of professions and the changing nature of employment. It pulls together a wide range of material, both theoretical and empirical, in a very readable and ultimately practical form.