Practitioner Development

Practitioner development

Whilst acquiring the knowledge needed to diagnose and treat disease might be an intellectual pursuit, development of an interpersonal and practice-based understanding is a more personal, embodied and applied endeavour. Learning within this realm may take the form of engagement with intersubjectivity, narrative humility, reflexivity, developing one’s voice and use of space and silence. ‘Practitioner development’ draws on Schon’s writing about the reflective practitioner being in dialogue with the situation (Schön 1987, p13) and Fish’s ‘practitioner researcher’, professionals who recognise the need for themselves as practitioners to understand their own practice and consider it critically (Fish 1998).

Fish, D. 1998. Appreciating Practice in the Caring Professions; Refocusing Professional Development & Practitioner Research. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Schön, D.A. 1987. Educating the reflective practitioner: toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass