Continuing education and professionalization: travelling without a compass?
Robert Tobias, University of Canterbury, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Paper presented at SCUTREA, 31st Annual Conference, 3-5 July 2001, University of East London
What's it all about?
THE past two hundred years or so have witnessed a remarkable growth in the professionalization of occupations with the consolidation of old professions and the establishment of new ones. This phenomenon may be attributed to a wide range of factors and this paper sets out to identify a range of social theories which may be used as maps and compasses to gain a deeper understanding of the process of professionalization and the contributions of CPE to this process. Underlying the paper is the notion that continuing educators working in this field are poorly served by the lack of adequate social theory. My hope is that this paper will provoke further theorising. In particular I hope that it will stimulate critical research which will look historically at the professionalization of a range of occupations, and the contributions of CPE to this process.
The professionalizing journey
(a) Who are the travellers? And where are they going? Models of the journey based on perceived attributes of all professions A large number of attempts have been made to define the nature of professions. One approach has been to identify the attributes or 'traits' which distinguish professions from other jobs and occupations. Abraham Flexner was one of the first and most influential writers in this tradition (Flexner, 1910). He set out six criteria which he claimed distinguish professions from other occupations: he argued that they all '... involve essentially intellectual operations with large individual responsibility; they derive their raw material from science and learning; this material they work up to a practical and definite end; they possess an educationally communicable technique; they tend to self organization; and they are becoming increasingly altruistic in motivation '(Flexner, 1915 p. 904).
Over the ensuing years a number of similar attempts were made to identify the attributes, characteristics or 'traits' which distinguish the professions from other occupations.
This view of the professions suggests two kinds of understanding of the journeys occupational groups need to take if they are to be considered as professions. One is based on the belief that there can only be a limited number of 'true' professions and that it is inappropriate for other groups to aspire to achieve comparable recognition for their occupations. A second form of understanding is somewhat less elitist but claims, nevertheless, as Flexner did, that there are certain characteristics inherent in the traditional professions, and that it is incumbent on other groups wishing to attain professional status to demonstrate that they do in fact possess these characteristics.
This approach remains alive today. In 1994 Michael Eraut identified three key elements of professionalism. He suggested that the 'three central features of the ideology of professionalism are a specialist knowledge base, autonomy and service'. However he goes on to point out that '..each of these has been significantly affected by social and cultural changes over the last two decades' (Eraut, 1994 p.223).
(b) Who are the travellers? And where are they going? Process models of the journey These comments by Eraut point to a key change in the approach to the study of professions which has taken place over the past forty years or so. From the mid-1960s an increasing number of researchers came to reject a static 'trait' approach to the study of professions. It was argued that the traditional approach to professions was based on an a historical and idealized notion of what is implied in the concept of a profession.
Thus Cyril Houle (Houle, 1981) follows a number of other researchers (see for example Vollmer and Mills, 1966) in arguing that it could not be assumed that there were certain universal attributes or 'canons' that define professions; nor could it be assumed that one could judge whether or not any particular occupation qualified as a profession on the basis of whether or not it met any universalistic criteria at any particular moment in history.
Instead he argued that few, if any, occupations fulfil completely the ideal requirements claimed for professions, and advocated a dynamic approach which focuses on the processes of professionalization and which sees it in its historical context.
This view of professions and of the professionalization journey is very much less elitist than the previous one. It holds out to individuals the very much more open possibilities of occupational mobility provided they are willing to undertake the necessary schooling and hard work.
And it holds out to a very much wider range of occupational groups what may appear to be a promise of professionalization provided that they are willing to become more selective, self-regulating and self-motivated, raise the quality and quantity of their work and of course continue their work related learning.
Despite the apparent advantages of 'process' over 'trait' approaches, most process-oriented approaches remain highly functionalist. Within this framework the professionalization journey is generally seen as necessary and desirable; and it remains very difficult to pose critical questions about the fundamental social, economic and political nature of the professionalization process (see for example Illich 1977 and Woll 1984). It is for these reasons that Barrie Brennan (1990) argues from an Australian background for the usefulness of a labour-market perspective on professions based on occupational classifications developed by Departments of Statistics.
(c) Who are the travellers? And where are they going? Professionalization, power and market monopolization A third approach to the study of professions rejects the functionalism inherent in the two previous approaches. In the early years of the twentieth century Max Weber, the great German sociologist, examined the part played by increasing rationalization and bureaucracy in the advance of capitalism. Within this context he drew attention to the growth of professions and the increasingly important exclusionary role being played by education and more specifically by the growth of credentials. He wrote: When we hear from all sides the demand for an introduction of regular curricula and special examinations, the reason behind it is, of course, not a suddenly awakened 'thirst for education' but the desire for restricting the supply of these positions and their monopolization by the owners of educational certificates (Gerth and Wright Mills 1946p.242).
In more recent times Terence Johnson (1972) was one of those who revived this approach. He re-conceptualised the notion of a profession, seeing it, not so much as an occupation in itself, but rather as a mode of controlling an occupation. One of the key writers to influence the development of this approach was Magali Larson (1979 and 1990). Like many other sociologists of the time (see for example, Parkin 1979), she drew on both neo-Marxist and neo-Weberian traditions. She viewed the rise of the professions over the previous two hundred years as one aspect of the rationalization of capitalism, and argues that the model of profession which was the outcome of a historically specific professionalization project of the nineteenth century was to function as an ideology justifying inequalities under conditions of advanced capitalism in the twentieth century. Larson argued that professionalization involves: an attempt to translate one order of scarce resources- special knowledge and skills - into another - social and economic rewards ... it implies a tendency to monopoly: monopoly of expertise in the market and monopoly of status in a system of stratification (1979: xvii).
Anne Witz is among those who have pointed to '... the emergence of a new critical theory of the professions, which has been centrally concerned with the concept of power' (Witz 1992: 40). This view of professionalization journeys rejects the functionalist interpretations previously outlined.
Instead it argues that these journeys have historically been driven primarily by issues of power and legitimacy. In particular this view locates the origins of modern journeys of professionalization in the increasing commodification of goodsand services which was necessary to the rise of capitalism in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
This view should not be interpreted as one of rejection of all such professionalization journeys. Rather it serves to emphasise the importance of examining these journeys carefully and critically in the light of the history of the relevant occupations and their place in the labour-market.
Continuing Professional Education (CPE) - Looking for a map and compass
In the above sections we have identified some of the kinds of questions that need to be addressed if we are to understand the journeys made by occupational groups as they move to undertake professionalization. This section sets out in search of maps and compasses to guide us in our thinking about the contributions of continuing professional education (CPE) and the roles performed by adult and continuing educators on these journeys.
Many policy-makers and practitioners appear to undertake their journeys into CPE with few if any maps of the territory into which they are venturing. Moreover all too few have access to adequate compasses to help them to negotiate the rocky terrain and to establish a clear sense of direction. In short, few are familiar with relevant social theory and even fewer have access to adequate tools to construct their own social theories.
(a) Technicist and instrumentalist compasses In view of this it is perhaps not surprising that many policymakers and practitioners pick up those tools which are most readily available and which have acquired social status and recognition. Thus they have been drawn towards positivism and to approaches, instruments, methods and techniques associated with the growth of technicism and instrumentalism. It is these approaches which hold out the promise of providing the technical means to solve the kinds of complex social, personal and political problems which typically emerge in the course of educational policy-making and planning as well as in the processes of learning and teaching. In addition of course it is these more or less standardized technical means that are desired by the state (as mechanisms of surveillance, control and accountability) and by the increasing number of policy analysts, CPE practitioners, human resource developers and managers (as a way of furthering the professionalization of their own occupations).
Technicism, then, may well appear to provide a suitable compass. However its promise is illusory and its usefulness limited (see for example Michael Collins 1991 and 1998), Nancy Jackson and Steve Jordan (2000) since it is subject to the influence of all the magnetic forces contained in the rocks and shoals encountered on the way. Its sense of direction is therefore unreliable. What is needed is a stronger sense of purpose and value, and this cannot be provided by a technicist compass.
(b) Liberal functionalist compasses and maps Ronald Cervero seems to have been the first to identify a functionalist viewpoint on CPE, although, as he points out, functionalism had dominated American sociology for many years prior to the 1980s (1988 pp. 21-37). As far as CPE is concerned liberal functionalism emphasises the importance of individuals developing and maintaining their professional knowledge and expertise on a lifelong basis. The values underlying notions of professional expertise are viewed as immensely important, and the literature on CPE from a liberal functionalist perspective emphasises the importance of the values, beliefs and commitments of professionals (Jarvis 1983, Bines and Watson 1992, Tovey 1994 and Bourner et al 2000).
Liberal functionalism seems to be more effective than technicism in providing a sense of direction and purpose for CPE. For this reason it serves as a better compass for the CPE policy-maker and practitioner. It is less vulnerable to the influences of fad and fashion, and hence is better placed to withstand the magnetic shifts in the environment.
However liberal functionalism is still lacking in a key element necessary to negotiate the seas of professionalism and professionalization. It is not sufficient merely to have a clear sense of direction, to know where one is going; it is also necessary to have a map which provides a detailed picture of the range of social, political and economic forces which are likely to influence not only our values and beliefs but also the nature of the journey itself.
(c) A map of contradictions to guide our theory-construction In order to find a suitable map to help us on our journey we must go beyond the liberal preoccupation with the values of individual professionals, however important these may be. We need to go beyond the 'critical viewpoint' as proposed by Cervero since this remains firmly embedded in liberal functionalism. Instead we must investigate the material interests and social forces which have historically influenced changes in the nature of various kinds of paid and unpaid work. Within this wider context, as we have seen, the concept of 'profession' is, in fact, not an innocent one. It is, in Larson's words ' ... one of many 'natural concepts', fraught with ideology, that social science abstracts from everyday life' (1979 p. xi). It is a concept that has been used to shape the material and social conditions of vast numbers of people through the twentieth century (see for example Perkin 1989).
A start may be made in developing a useful map by recognising that the professionalization of any occupation is a two-edged sword: it is a process riddled with contradictions.
1. The professionalization of occupations has served to raise and maintain ethical and competency standards of members and provide mechanisms to protect the public from misuse or abuse by members of the profession as well as others who are not licensed members of the profession but who claim similar or comparable levels of competence and expertise; it has also however been used by dominant groups to create and maintain monopolistic positions.
2. Professionalising projects and the notion of 'profession' may be used by powerful groups as a form of 'occupational imperialism ... to mould the division of labour to their own advantage' (Larkin 1983 p. 15). They may also be used by less powerful groups not only to increase their power and control over their own work processes but also to gain recognition, status and more equitable rewards for work that has been undervalued or marginalised.
3. The principles underlying notions of profession and professional authority have been contrasted sharply with those underlying bureaucracy and bureaucratic authority.
It has been argued that professional practise is characterised amongst other things by a workorientation which emphasises intrinsic rather than extrinsic rewards in the performance of tasks and an ideographic approach to problem solving which provides practitioners with considerable discretion in the application of their professional knowledge and expertise to each unique individual case. It has also been argued that, since the authority vested in professionals derives from the knowledge and expertise of the professionals themselves, professionalization necessarily gives rise to collegial forms of authority in which rational-legal power is based on representative democracy and leaders are in principle the first among equals (Gerth and Wright Mills 1946).
On the other hand, empirical studies and theoretical work undertaken on a wide range of professions suggests that the contrasts and oppositions between bureaucratisation and professionalization are not necessarily as great as studies based on ideal type models might suggest (Murphy 1990). Bureaucracy and professionalism originated in largely similar historical contexts; both embody principles of rationalization; and both have been shaped by the growth of corporate and monopoly capitalism and by the expansion of state apparatuses during the twentieth century. Thus in spite of differences the processes of bureaucratisation and professionalization are interdependent and all professions are, today, to a greater or lesser extent bureaucratised.
4. Finally, by way of pointing out the contradictions, it should be noted that the processes and principles of professionalization have often served the interests of capital while also being used at times to resist the encroachment of global capitalism and neo-liberal ideologies.Thus, on the one hand, professionalization projects have played an important part in the commodification of a never-increasing range of services and products, and their incorporation within the institutions characteristic of successive stages of capitalist development.
On the other hand, some professionalising projects have also played an important part in resisting the encroachments of capitalism in the provision of services. Many of the principles underlying the notions of professions are antithetical to the processes of de-humanisation and deskilling which have characterised the advance of capitalism over much of the past hundred years. In addition, at certain times some professional organisations and especially those engaged in the provision of social services have sought to establish links of solidarity with the working class rather than incorporation within the bourgeoisie, and some professionalising projects have contained counter hegemonic elements which have provided the basis for resistance to the demands of patriarchal capitalism.
Concluding reflections
This sociologically-informed view of the professionalization journey, which highlights the contradictory tendencies inherent in the historical processes of establishing and maintaining professions, has not always informed the thinking of CPE practitioners and policy-makers. They have tended to draw on instrumentalist and technicist or liberal functionalist approaches. However it is a view which is not inconsistent with Philip Tovey's (1994 p. 8) analysis.
From the point of view of continuing professional education this view highlights the importance of knowledge production and practitioner education. However it also recognizes the contradictory tendencies inherent in all forms of initial and continuing professional education. It embodies a critical theory which does not see professionalization projects and continuing professional education programmes in monolithic, static or deterministic terms. It seeks to expose the hidden agendas and contradictions and to raise questions inherent in any such project and programmes. It is a view that seeks to understand professionalization projects both within their own specific and unique historical contexts and within the wider historical context. This includes the struggles over race, gender and class which have been shaped historically by the rise of laissez-faire, competitive capitalism, the growth of the welfare state, and the crises and advances of large-scale multi-national corporations associated with the rise of global capitalism.