The question of how individuals, learn and develop competences for professional success, in a wide range of professions, has become a topic of debate. The idea that successful professional practice is achieved by only learning relevant theoretical knowledge misses the crucial action component, while learning focused solely on practice missing the important theory component. Therefore while some call for a theoretical orientation, and others suggest “practice makes perfect,” we argue that sound theory tested in practice, creates “actionable knowledge.” In this way highly developed professionals integrate theory and practice to develop practical solutions to real world problems.

The central argument of this proposal is that focus on the theory-practice space is critical in the learning process for professionals. The objective of the workshop will be to show and to discuss how different fields of professional education can learn from each other when conceptualising the theory-practice space.

Professionals work in conditions of uncertainty, where success is determined by assessment of the situation and customization of actions rather than application of routine or technical solutions. Professionals are therefore expected to be flexible, capable, and immediate to be able to respond effectively to situations that are of high importance to individuals and/or society. As Kanes (2010) points out, they are supposed to develop a type of hybrid expertise in their field, which allows them to not only effectively respond to critical situations but also to base their decisions on solid academic knowledge. Findings in German professional research (cf. Oevermann, 1996) suggest that their professional habitus shows a twin quality: it involves both intuitive and rational dimensions closely linked with each other. Expertise research speaks of adaptive or fluid expertise (Horn & Cattell, 1966, Schrittesser, 2014a, 2014b).

Presently, the call for extended practical training in the education of professionals seems to be paramount. Take for example European teacher education: a considerable number of the teacher education programmes in Europe are about to significantly increase the amount of practice teaching time (among them Austria, Germany, the UK). This development can also be seen in other countries, (e.g. Canada, see the announcements of the Ontario College of Teachers, https://www.oct.ca).

Yet, from research in expertise we know that practice is a necessary but not a sufficient prerequisite to develop expertise. Only if practice is conceived as deliberate practice (Berliner, 2001; Ericsson, 2006, MacNamara et al., 2014) will it lead to expert-level performance. This means that expertise does not increase automatically as a by-product of further experience but depends on the quality and shape of such experience.

In the research workshop we will present the following three models of deliberate practice concerning the domains of consulting and education:

For the qualification of consultants the concept of the Action Research Case Study will be presented. It is designed as learning by reflecting and doing and learning as reflecting and doing. This iterative practice-theory and theory-practice loops are supposed to foster students’ process expertise as a basis for generating new perspectives for change (Spindler, 2013; Spindler & Wagenheim, 2013).

For teacher education the concept of research collaborations with schools will be discussed. Universities form Professional Learning Communities with schools in which practice-related problems are defined and actively worked on in university seminars together with the participating schools using research-guided teaching and learning.

The third approach focuses on organizational learning (Weick 1965) and its importance for the training of educational professionals. In doing so, the “Organization Laboratory” (Krainz, in print) will be discussed as an experience-based approach, characterized by a continual alternation of (collective) action and its reflection with regard to organizational and individual learning.  

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