Abstract
In this chapter we set the scene for our investigation of learning for the professions. We discuss a number of introductory themes: the historical perspective of higher education in the early twenty-first century within current frames such as the massification of university education, the emergence of the university of the professions, the international context of higher education and learning for a professional life in this international context, the blurring of the boundaries between learning at university and learning at work, the development of ideas of professional communities and their manifestation using modern communication technologies, continuing professional development. We also investigate the diverse nature of students and how individuals can be seen as both representative of particular “groups” – such as ethnicity, gender or professional area – and as individuals who have a unique experience which relates to their personal approaches to working life. We look towards the future and speculate about anticipated changes as the status and hence the power of universities is eroded and replaced by knowledge development in professional workplaces and continuing cycles of re-learning and re-skilling for professional workers. We conclude this chapter by exploring how higher education now focuses on the development of the “expert student” and suggest how research and pedagogical activities may support students as they make the transition from formal study into work as a “novice professional”.
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Reid, A., Dahlgren, M.A., Petocz, P., Dahlgren, L.O. (2011). What’s Happening in Higher Education?. In: From Expert Student to Novice Professional. Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education, vol 99. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0250-9_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0250-9_1
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