Learning Professional Practice Through Education

Abstract

In this chapter we discuss a case of professional learning in higher education with a particular focus on health care. We focus in particular on what aspects of professional education become visible if we shift our viewpoint from a cognitive learning perspective on professional education, to a practice theory perspective, viewing this case of professional education as a practice, or a set of practices, in itself. Introducing a practice theory perspective on pedagogy on professional health care education might allow a new gaze on a field that for a long time been has been dominated by cognitive discourses about how to improve students’ learning. We focus on how the socio-materiality of professional practice is realised within the curriculum of the professional programs through three cycles, the courses Health, Ethics and Learning, part 1 and 2, and the Student Training Ward. We show how the relations between different sets of actors are connected, both as important mediating conditions through broader societal discourses, national legislation, local institution and organisation, as well as in terms of how every day educational practice is enacted. The chapter highlights the need for serious consideration of how to use the material arrangements in the educational setting to enable a collaborative practice to unfold.