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Expertise, competence and reflection in the rhetoric of professional development
Author(s) -
Edwards Richard,
Nicoll Katherine
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/01411920500402052
Subject(s) - rhetoric , rhetorical question , competence (human resources) , professional development , sociology , pedagogy , engineering ethics , faculty development , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , linguistics , engineering
This article explores the rhetorical work done by discourses of professional development in education. In particular it outlines the ways in which the rhetoric of technical expertise, competence and reflective practice are deployed to mobilise professional practices and identities in particular ways and position certain practices and dispositions as specifically professional. The article explores the ways in which audiences are mobilised and the strategies to persuade educators that particular discourses of professionalism are about and for them. This is illustrated through an analysis of a particular discourse of professional development for academics in the UK. The authors argue for and illustrate the illuminating potential of rhetorical analysis to an understanding of different practices of professional development.