JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS EDUCATION - naspaa

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Enhancing Professional Socialization Through the Metaphor of Tradition To emphasize, this article pertains only to specific elements of professional socialization — those which are impacted most directly by scholars. Research, theory, and pedagogy are all used to plan and implement the professional education and socialization process that engenders role-taking. The focus here is purely on the relationships among theoretical role conceptualization, pedagogy, and role-taking. For the most part, theory impacts professional education and academic mentorship. While much of this process focuses on requisite knowledge and skills, of key interest here are the sense of “occupational identity and internalization of occupational norms” (Moore & Rosenblum, 1970, p. 71) and the “transmission of more accepted values of the discipline or profession” (Weidman, et al., 2001, p. 18). Step 1: Practitioners Act as Role-Takers Administrators are conceptualized as “role-takers” (Harmon & Mayer, 1986; Selznick, 1957) because they both consciously and unconsciously take on a role that has been organizationally and socially predetermined in terms of a set of expectations. Other than in rare cases of conscription, practitioners voluntarily accept a role by entering public service. While some theories posit an a priori public service motivation, socialization also can shape the meaning and value that an individual attaches to attitudes and actions (Fuller & Dornbusch, 1988). “The transformation process of a novice to a professional is essentially an acculturation process during which the values, norms and symbols of the profession are internalized” (du Tort, 1995, p.164). This “inculcation of motives” can occur at both pre-entry and entry stages to an organization (Barnard, 1938, p.149). In the case of MPA curriculum, socialization efforts can be designed to change convictions and intrinsic motivations (deCharms, 1968) through the internalization of values, norms, or morals (Etzioni, 1975; Katz & Kahn, 1966). Step 2: Role is Performed and Assessed At the individual level of analysis, each practitioner assesses his or her own role performance based on a variety of factors, including how performance is judged by fellow administrators, as well as the citizens and elected officials they serve. This self-assessment may or may not change one’s internal role conception. However, more important to the present discussion are the formal methods through which empirical evidence continues to inform theory in an evolutionary manner. Research abounds on the relationships among factors of public service motivation, role performance, and perceived legitimacy. In essence, theorists seek to answer the question, “Can professionals be developed in ways that are conducive to democratic responsibility” (Perry, 1997, p.191). 292 Journal of Public Affairs Education
Enhancing Professional Socialization Through the Metaphor of Tradition These types of inquiries find that misalignments of the three factors often occur. As is evident in national opinion polls and media reports, the contemporary perception of government legitimacy is very low (King, Stivers, et al., 1998). Based on this crisis of legitimacy, adjustments are made to theory, in hopes of developing role conceptualizations that will better meet citizen expectations in the future. For example, if role performance is in accordance with the prevailing role conceptualization, but still is perceived to be illegitimate by the public, then theorists may suggest a different meaning of legitimacy and offer a new role conceptualization. Step 3: Experience Impacts Role Conception and Conceptualization As assessments are made of administrative performance, adjustments are made to future action. In the case of the administrator, individual role conceptions (internal perception and motivation) may be confirmed or adjusted according to experience. In terms of the field of study, normative theory evolves in response to the changing conditions of role performance. Scholars assume the task of constructing a role conceptualization (external prescription) for the public administrator that will be deemed legitimate not only by practitioners themselves, but also by the citizens they serve, including elected officials. However, there are many competing role conceptualizations in public administration theory that have changed over time, never completely eliminating prior conceptualizations. This leads us back to the question of which theory and which role conceptualization should prevail. Step 4: Pedagogy Transmits Role Conceptualizations Role conceptualizations are used to socialize students into professional identities (De Soto, Opheim, & Tajalli, 1999; Lowery & Whitaker, 1994). They are imparted via the professional socialization process, much of which occurs through the curricula of professional degree programs such as the MPA (Heck, 1995; King, 1998). Graduate programs carry legitimate power to prescribe behavior and influence psychological change about a given social role or position (French & Raven, 1959). Higher education in general is imbued with cultural legitimacy, and the increasingly coveted MPA is made even more authoritative by the legitimizing practices of NASPAA accreditation. The rationale for regulating admission to a profession in some way is “to protect the potentially gullible client from incompetent and unscrupulous ‘experts’…” (Moore & Rosenblum, 1970, p.111). This is particularly important in public administration, because its professionals operate with the power of the state behind them. Thus, in light of the impact public administrators have on democratic legitimacy, the pedagogical choices made in the reproduction of the field are important decisions. Journal of Public Affairs Education 293
Page 1 and 2: Summer 2009 Volume 15, No. 3 JPAE J
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