The term ‘professional socialisation” refers to “the process by which a person acquires the knowledge, skills, and sense of occupational identity that are characteristic of a member of that profession’ (Cohen, 1981, p. 14). More recently, Evans (2002, 2008, 2011), by drawing upon the work of Hoyle (1975) suggests that professionalism and professionality constitute the main elements of teachers’ professional lives. The former is status-related whereas the latter Evans defines as  ‘an ideologically-, attitudinally-, intellectually- and epistemologically-based stance on the part of an individual, in relation to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences his/her professional practice’ (2002, p. 130). Personal experiences as a pupil may influence the perceptions of a trainee teacher with regard to their role and identity (Lortie, 1975; Goodson, 2003). The process itself is continuous, multifaceted and extends beyond the context of initial teacher education (ITE) (Blandford, 2001). However, it is also recognised that ITE may be influential in ‘determining the kinds and relative stability or instability of professional identities which teachers develop in the early years of teaching and thus the kinds of teachers they become and their effectiveness’ (Flores and Day, 2006, p. 219).

As the literature review from Cornelissen and Wyk (2007) clearly shows, higher education programmes and their associated environment have been placed at the centre of this process by many scholars. Briefly, by attending university the novice acquires the specialised knowledge and the skills upon which their professional authority rests and embraces the norms and values of the profession.  

Crucial to the process are role models in the form of professionals teaching the students and/or peers who have developed a higher level of professional identity, for example, as a result of relevant work experience (Adams et al, 2006). The importance of attending lessons to acquire skills and knowledge is usually emphasised where misconduct can put human life in serious danger. This is for example the case of teachers, nurses and social workers programmes (Macfarlane, 2013).

At present, full-time undergraduate courses requiring the physical presence of the student on campus still comprise a substantial part of a university’s offer. For students undertaking programmes which lead to a qualified status such as that of a teacher, attendance is often viewed as a necessary part of the process of professional. For these reasons, it is important to examine the factors which may influence the attendance of student teachers on an undergraduate taught programme and the role a university programme and its environment play in this process.

The first part of this research will therefore seek to examine the following;

• To what extent do students value the taught programme
• What reasons do they give for non-attendance?
• To what extent do students consider online availability of a taught course to be influential on their attendance?
• What factors, if in place, would encourage them to attend?

• In       terms of the content
• In       terms of their professional socialisation

A literature review on the factors inhibiting and fostering attendance on campus was conducted.  Given the financial and time constraints, only Education Research Complete (EBSCO) database was used. For the same reasons, only articles published from 2005 were included in the review. A total of 804 articles were found, which were reduced to 94.

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