This research centres around the experiences of educators within the UK's National Health Service (NHS), focusing on their engagement with professional learning and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). It critically examines and discusses the concept of the ‘dual professional’ and how such binary staging of practice is conceptualised by education practitioners. The research asks:

1. How do NHS-educators regard their own professional learning and related CPD in relation to their professional knowledge and practice in the discipline of education?
2. Do NHS-educators individuals see education-specific CPD activity as a personal or an organisational responsibility?
3. How do dual qualified educators in the NHS conceptualise their professional practice as both a subject matter expert and an educator?

This research uses a qualitative approach to explore the lived experiences of these NHS educators. A constructivist ontology and interpretivist epistemology underpin the research, acknowledging that knowledge is socially constructed and interpreted through the experiences of the individuals involved. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with seven individuals working as educators in some capacity within the NHS. In addition, several personal narrative accounts of my own practice as an educator in the NHS were documented. All data was analysed using Braun and Clarke's Thematic Analysis framework, beginning with broad, mostly semantic codes, then narrowing down to more focused codes before identifying key themes. A multiple-coder 'light touch' was used where three individuals with no prior knowledge of the research or research practices were invited to review the raw transcripts and highlight points of interest. These findings were compared against my own codes and themes as a reference. Theory was then generated from the research findings using inductive logic. Reflexivity was incorporated into the research, and my own role as an 'insider' is discussed at length and how this contributes to the research.

Thematic analysis of the data revealed that the concept of "practice" is often poorly understood, with technical-rational approaches to education being commonplace. This is evidenced by a lack of authentic engagement with education as a craft, with educators often prioritising subject specialism over pedagogical development. The research also found that whilst informal communities of practice are utilised and valued, more formalised CPD is not always seen as worthwhile. Furthermore, the study highlights that education is often undervalued by the organisation, and this in turn has a negative impact on the practitioners. This research offers a critical perspective on the concept of dual professionalism, suggesting that more attention is needed to support educators’ development of their practice. The findings contribute to a growing area of research into the professional learning of educators in non-traditional educational settings, like the NHS.

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