What do we mean by professional development?

Abstract

Over the past several years those working in higher education have shown a growing interest in professional development, particularly with regard to those areas of work, such as teaching, nursing and medicine, which have undergone rapid, outsider-led change. There remain a number of questions, however, about what professional development means and how it can be brought about. This paper addresses these issues, first by considering the question of what it is to be a professional, then by looking at issues in professional preparation, the taking up of the professional role and the longer term development of professional practice, and finally by giving some suggestions for ways forward. The theoretical analysis is illustrated by examples from a range of occupational areas, with particular focus on the 'caring professions'. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.