Contribution
The paper topic is focused on the process of professional identity formation of students from different fields of social sciences such as social pedagogy, social work, law, psychology, sociology, bussiness and public management.The research is being realized in Lithuania. This research is a part of the PhD thesis and it is grounded on the lack of the knowledge both in national and international contexts. Recent analysis of the results of other scientists (e.g., Žydži?nait?, Saul?nien?, 2006; Žydži?nait?, 2005; Urbonien?, 2004; Adamonien?, 1999; Petrauskait?, 1996; Boreham, Gray, 2005; Proweller, Mitchener, 2004; Branch, 2000; O'Neill, 1999; Ryynanen, 2001; Olesen, 2001; Kwakman, Schilder, 2004; Franzak, 2002; Sundin, 2001; Jeans, Forth, 1995, etc.) indicated the existence of various factors that make an influence on professional identity formation. Factors such as: professional knowledge, acknowledgement with meaning and use of studies, studies of theory, effective educational training structure and process that is focused on one's personal development, training in practice, professional development curriculum and/ or courses, development of research competencies, intellectual and physical instruments for information search, work experience and experience that is gained during practise at university, student's life experience, teacher experience, competence and authority, social interaction and communication and their acknowledgments with colleagues and with students, different personal characteristics (devotion to profession, feeling oneself a member of professional community, autonomy, etc.), particular characteristics (altruism, orientation to a client, disposition to help, etc.), calling, personal and professional development and even age of student are the ones that constitute the formation of the professional identity in studies. Analysis of scientific literature highlighted that professional identity formation in higher education is an inconstant longitudinal complex process that reveals at two levels: both structural and personal (level of personal attitudes and/ or characteristics), has several significant beginnings (one of them starts with entering university), directions (e.g. to oneself, to organization and to permanent development and lifelong learning) and stages (role-identity pre-socialization, discovery, construction, maintenance and disposition). It lasts as long as person identifies oneself with professional field, but can not be separated from formation of other personal identities as well as from the influence of other significant internal and external factors. Identity and its formation process are being influenced by various structural, personal and organizational factors. Unity of theory and practise, level of personal knowledge and its significance towards profession, dynamic and auspicious structure of studies, that embraces not only information, but also practical, supporting in all meanings and individual-orientated educational environment, ability to evaluate one's suitability to a study field are the essential prerequisites to professional identity formation. But it is still not so much verified and for this reason questions such as later mentioned have arised: What structural elements of professional identity development in the bachelor studies of social sciences can be characterised as constant and permanent? What are possible levels of their expression? What are significant differences (if there any are) of the students' professional identity formation in the fields of higher education of social work, social pedagogy, law, management, psychology and sociology? These questions all together express the research question.The research objective is the process of students' professional identity formation in higher education of social sciences. The aim of this research is to highlight common and different aspects of the professional identity formation of students from different fields of social sciences in higher education.The phenomenographical research is based on the qualitative research methodology when an interview is being used as a data collection method and qualitative content analysis is being used as a data analysis method. Sample consists of thirty full-time 3rd and 4th year bachelor students from different fields of social sciences (sociology, social work and social pedagogy, psychology and law) in Lithuania.At the meantime the research is being performed, so expected final outcomes of it could be those: reseach highlights the differences of the students' professional identity formation according to the key elements of their studies field. The most significant aspects that influence formation of students' professional identity could be: 1) professional knowledge (and especially the one that is directly orientated to the students aknowledgment with a variety of directions and specializations inside the field and their internal differences), 2) professional values and 3) their coincidence with personal values. Other structural elements at the level of formal education as well as at the level of personal characteristics could be charaterized as second or lower level significance elements. One of the preliminary conclusions is being discovered at the meantime: in all fields of social sciences formation of professional identity occurs in two levels. First of all at the begining of their studies students evaluate coincidence of their personal characteristics with the values of the profession (and vice versa) and only afterwards they highlight the absence of the incompability in this area they reach second level of the process of professional identity formation where they are getting aknowledgement with variety of specializations inside profession and thus gaining understanding of differences both in knowledge and way of realising professional functions and thus developing their professional competencies. By the time I am sending this proposal the research is still being realized, so about more precisious conclusions and/ or findings I could inform later at the conference.1. Abbott, A. (1988). The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. 452 p.2. Adamonien?, R. (1999). Profesijos mokytojo rengimo psichologin?s prielaidos. Profesinis rengimas: tyrimai ir aktualijos, 2, 52-59.3. Branch, S. (2000). Who will I be when I leave University - the development of professional Identity. Paper presented at the conference "Effective Teaching and Learning at University", Duchesne College The University of Queensland, Australia. Available from the Internet: [cited 2006 04 21] 4. Brott, P., Kajs, L. (2001). Developing the Professional Identity of First-Year Teachers Through a "Working Alliance". [retrieved 2005 11 28]. Available from the Internet: 5. Dobrow, S., Higgins, M. (2005). Developmental networks and Professional identity: a longitudinal study. Career Development International, 10, 567-583. [retrieved 2006 04 27]. Available from the Internet: 6. Marsh J. C. (2000). Theories of Professions: Implication for Social Work. In Soziale Arbeit: gesellschaftliche Bedingungen und professionelle Perspektive / hrsg. von Siegfried Muller ... -1. Aufl. - Neuwied; Kriftel: Luchterhand, 2000. ISBN 3-472-04370-9, pp. 389-399. 7. McMichael A. (2000). Professional identity and continuing education: a study of social worker in hospital settings. Social work education, 19, No. 2: 175- 182. 8. Olesen, H. S. (2001). Professional Identity as Learning Process in Life Histories. Journal of Workplace Learning, 13 (7/8), 290-298. [cit. 2006 03 10]. Available from the Internet: <17http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0860130703.html>. 9. Proweller A., Mitchener C. (2004). Building Teacher Identity with Urban Youth: Voices of Beginning Middle School Science Teachers in an Alternative Certification Program. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41 (10), pp. 1044-1062. 10. Ryynanen, K. (2001). Constructing physician's professional identity - explorations of students' critical experiences in medical education (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oulu, 2001). [cited 2005 12 20]. Available from Internet: 11. Sachs, J. (2001). Teacher professional identity: competing discourses, competing outcomes. Educational policy, Vol. 16, No. 2: 149-161. 12. Urbonien? A. Professional motivation of the studying social-educational work specialties and educational preconditions of its development : doctoral dissertation : social sciences, education (07S) / Aist? Urbonien?. Kaunas, 2004. 182 p. 13. Žydži?nait?, V. (2005). Qualitative diagnostics of professional identity development in vocational education and training: congruences and disconnections. EDUCATION-LINE. [Serial Online], 1 - 20. Available at: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/142829.htm 14. Žydži?nait?, V., Saul?nien?, S. (2006). Development of professional identity in higher vocational education: experiences of students/ Profesinio identiteto vystymas aukštosiose neuniversitetin?se studijose: student? patirtys/ konferencijos medžiaga: Studij? ir verslo integracija, 2006, 199 - 208.In case this paper would be accepted and it would met all necessary requirements I would like to publish it either in national or special network collection
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.