The overall argument in this thesis is that the ethico-political aspiration to . professionalism eludes any particular instantiation but that narrative practices , of improvisation serve to realise such aspirations even while questioning the givens of received instantiations of professionalism and policy- led interventions. As such they are also serviceable as resources for research and professional education. The purpose of the research was to examine professionalism in the context of education for workforce development in the National Health Service (NHS) to develop the role of the Advanced Practitioner (AP) through a work-based Masters degree programme in partnership with the researcher's employing University. The research engaged critically with debates within the literature concerning professionalism and identified methodological debates and approaches to the examination of the achievement of professionalism in the current context of public sector reform. It established that received notions of professionalism linked to definitions of profession and professsionalization ,are inadequate to conceptualise the ethico-political task of achieving professionalism in this context. It aimed to provide empirical evidence and theoretical argument to show how professionalism can be conceived and realised under these conditions. The methodology adopted hermeneutic and ., narrative methods of enquiry for analysis of accounts of students and lecturers participating in the delivery of the AP masters programme. The r findings of the research built upon identification of improvisation as a core sensitising concept which was then further detailed as narrative practices of achievement. Analysis of these accounts identified two broad approaches to the achievement of professionalism characterised by different stances in respect of how the ethico-political enterprise is conceived in practice: for 'modernisation' , improvisation is an unfortunate fall-back position in the project of seeking occupation of a strategic position; alternatively, 'improvisation' provides the possibilities for achieving professionalism notwithstanding received notions of professions, professionalization and modernisation in the current context of workforce development and neoliberal reform of public services.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:574510 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Nettleton, Robert John |
| Publisher | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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