Professional Knowledge and Educational Restructuring in Europe
Developing a Conceptual Framework for Understanding
In section 1 we have described how we developed our research study and methods so as to capture data comparing professional work and life in different European contexts (objective 1). In section 2 the detailed studies of restructuring and professional knowledge in teaching and nursing are presented (objectives 2 and 3). In our conclusion we present a conceptual framework for analysing professional knowledge in restructuring organisations (objective 4).
Our conceptual framework tries to capture the complexities which arise when different national and regional contexts intersect with different professional settings and generational and historical periodisations.
To try to interrogate the complexities of this juxtaposition we have focussed on two levels of analysis – what we call systems narratives, the policy discourses which emanate from governing agencies and work life narratives, the viewpoints presented by practitioner teachers and nurses. By collecting and analysing these two kinds of narratives we can provide a specific snapshot of the complexities of context, profession and generation.
Since our objective is to develop a complex conceptual framework we chose this narrative focus very carefully. It built on the strengths of the research team which included international experts on life history studies and generational analysis.
Moreover it provided crucial insights into how restructuring initiatives emanating from governments intersect with the work life perceptions and narrative accounts of practitioners in the field. We judged that this intersection is crucial in developing our conceptual understanding of how restructuring works in the zone of professional knowledge.
