Theoretical framework

Research on professions and semi-professions is often insular, in the sense that only one profession is focused in a given project. The data collection approach at the Centre for Studies of Professions at Oslo University College is in this respect unusual, as data are collected from students in about 20 professions, at four stages: at an early and late stage of university/college programs, soon after entering the profession, and some years later.

The present contribution presents questionnaire data from students late in their program and young professionals early in their career, within the fields of teacher education, pre-school teacher education, and nursing, regarding their assessments of the programs they have completed. The discussion of the results will be related to an understanding of assessments of this kind as being affected by who learns (persons) in what kind of training (programs) for which kind of work (professions) within various local contexts (places).

This framework inspired by Ryan, Applegate, Flora, Johnston, Lasley, Mager, & Newman (1972) who, with reference to qualitative data on new teachers, have pointed out that one should keep in mind that their views come from people who differ at the outset, who have gone through various teacher education programs, and have made their debut in classrooms and schools that differ (cf also a model suggested by Munthe 2007 in Haug 2008).

At a surface level, comparative assessment of programs in various fields may be seen as saying something about the quality of the programs in relation to one another – e g, is teacher education better or more successful than the preparation of nurses? However, these answers will not exclusively be based on what the students think about the program. Teacher education students, who have been clients of teachers for 12-13 years, and thus have had personal experiences with the profession, have a more solid foundation or criteria for their assessments. Students of nursing have a much more limited basis for assessment; students of pre-school teaching were (possibly) clients of this profession at a time when they were very young.

As they move through the program, all students will, in particular through periods of practice, gain more insight in what kind of professional work they can expect and how the workplace is organized. Thus, all get some foundation for their assessments. But those with previous personal experiences related to the profession, will still have a better foundation than those without prior experiences.

Once they start working, this difference fades; over the first few years they all develop a more equal foundation. But the way the professional work is organized, and the characteristics of places or contexts,will affect their assessments.

One must assume that personal characteristics, over and above personal experiences with the profession, could influence this kind of assessments. Since all the professions focused are in the public sector and bordering on care or motherly functions, the people choosing these fields may be rather similar. Nevertheless, there may be variation on traits that will affect their assessments.

Munthe, E (2007). LU-Data, January 24th, Senter for profesjonsforskning, Høgskolen i Oslo, NYMU-prosjektet. In Haug, P. (2008). Lærarutdanning i endring (Teacher education in transition). Norsk pedagogisk tidsskrift, 92, pp 100-111. Ryan, K., Applegate, J., Flora, V. R., Johnston, J., Lasley, T., Mager, G., & Newman, K. (1979). My teacher education program? Well …: First year teachers reflect and react. Peabody Journal of Education, 56, 267-271.