From personal reflection to social positioning: the development of a transformational model of professional education in midwifery

Abstract

A transformational model of professional identity formation, anchored and globalized in workplace conversations, is advanced. Whilst the need to theorize the aims and methods of clinical education has been served by the techno-rational platform of 'reflective practice', this platform does not provide an adequate psychological tool to explore the dynamics of social episodes in professional learning and this led us to positioning theory. Positioning theory is one such appropriate tool in which individuals metaphorically locate themselves within discursive action in everyday conversations to do with personal positioning, institutional practices and societal rhetoric. This paper develops the case for researching social episodes in clinical education through professional conversations where midwifery students, in practice settings, are encouraged to account for their moment-by-moment interactions with their preceptors/midwives and university mentors. It is our belief that the reflection elaborated by positioning theory should be considered as the new epistemology for professional education where professional conversations are key to transformative learning processes for persons and institutions.

Professional Identity in Analysis: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…From the analysis of occupational areas of application, it was evident that the studies relapsed mostly in teachers (n=8) [1,2,13,[26][27][28][29][30] and nurses (n=7) [31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. Of the remaining seven studies, six [38][39][40][41][42][43] are not reported to any specific professional area.…”

“…The research fields [24] did not differ significantly: in five studies the authors were focused in psychology [27,33,41,43,44], other five, in social psychology [13,35,36,40,42], eight, in sociology [26,28,29,31,32,34,37,39] and four, in a "mixed" of research fields (philosophy, anthropology, psychology and sociology, psychosociology). The last four studies did not positioned in a particular field.…”

“…While the social aspects of the individual dimension of identity have been addressed in studies in both professional areas, teachers and nurses, the collective dimension was especially considered in nurses' professional area. Nevertheless, the personal aspect of the individual dimension of identity was more evident for teachers within the studies focused on the internalisation of social positions and their meanings as part of the structure of the self [1,2,27,30,36]. The studies highlighted the critical reflection and the emotional component, both indispensable for the interaction through the relation individual ('I') / object ('me') [7].…”

“…When connected with the professional identity, it might lead to success at the start of the career and to the construction of professional identity in the transition from student to teacher (see Table 3). Phillips, Fawns and Hayes [36] mention the 'reflective practice' concept developed by Schön. The authors consider that this is an inadequate psychological tool when one wants to explore the meaning of the dialogs established in workplace for the construction of professional identity.…”

“…According to this theory, it is through dialog (or of discursive action, both public and private) that meanings are rebuilt and that the transformative processes happen either in trainees or institutions. Phillips, Fawns and Hayes [36] also argue that social meanings constructed in interpersonal relations imply a dynamic that the static nature and stereotyped perceptions of the theory of the role-identity 11 does not seem to predict. Indeed, that 'role' symbolizes the attributes associated with a particular social position, which definitely differs from the personal characteristics of the individual who occupies this position.…”