Complete thesis - Murdoch University

the learner/practitioner to carry some verbally explicit theory to new situations where it canbe put to work and tested, found valid and interesting, and also reinvented.Greenwood (1993) identifies weaknesses and inconsistencies in this approach, which, sheargues, has resulted in the implementation and prescription of dubious strategies for thepromotion of what Schön refers to as ‘enlightened professional artistry’. Often formal educationcannot answer the complex questions of clinical practice and there remains a gap inknowledge gained. However, the ideas expounded in the work of Argyris and Schön (1974)and the many writings of Schön (eg Schön (1983, 1985, 1987, 1995)) have triggered a rethinkingabout professional education – a slowly emerging recognition that courses for theprofessions need to seriously engage with professional practice: part of the major enterpriseof learning-to-learn to become professional. Further discussion, including that of Lave andWenger (1991), address the other major concern with Schön’s approach – the lack of focuson the ‘situated’ nature of learning. This is described elsewhere (see Section 3.3.2).The success of this learning is based on factors such as the degree of learner control, degreeof correspondence of learning environment to real environment and degree of involvementof self (Boud and Pascoe, 1978) (also described in previous sections of this chapter (see, forexample, Sections 3.5.2 and 3.3.2)), and the adoption of strategies which have come to beidentified as contributing to reflection. These are conceptualised as having the purpose ofturning experience into learning (Boud et al, 1985) or offering students the opportunity toprocess their experience to generate alternative ways of viewing a situation and achieving newappreciations or understandings. These factors and strategies, including the use of journalsand learning partners, and the creation of concept maps, share the feature that studentsare encouraged to return to their own experiences in class and outside and focus on whatthese events mean to them. In addition, reflective learning models are often based on anenvironment that takes into account how students learn and the learning requirements ofthe professional practice for which they are being prepared – to act and think professionallyas an integral part of formal education. Students are being prepared to become reflectivepractitioners, therefore opportunities for students to develop reflective skills and sensibilitiesshould be embedded as a normal part of all professional courses (Boud et al, 1985).Environments for reflective learning are, in general, based on the studio approach, modelledon the architectural studio (an adaptation of the atelier-based training at the Parisian Ecoledes Beaux-Arts in 19th Century (Chafee, 1977)), which encourages a blending of the functionaland the structural, the social and the technical by a community of learners who interactto solve problems. It is an immersive approach to learning where open problems are visitediteratively. This has long been the norm in disciplines where the nature of practice is the167