IOE academics’ award-winning work challenges long-held ideas of workplace expertise

Their paper was titled “Expertise as a ‘capacity for action’: Reframing vocational knowledge from the perspective of work.” They explored the shifting nature of how expertise is defined, particularly who is given the status of “expert.”  

The authors looked at how training programmes at all levels need to evolve beyond knowledge hierarchies, and align instead with dynamic and fluid workplaces. Their paper drew from the field of Communication Studies, where the work process, communication and technology are central in the development of expertise. 

Their research was motivated by a shared interest in the ways people of all occupations develop their expertise, and how technological advances may impact this. Professors Guile and Unwin were intrigued by the growing importance of digital technologies and AI, especially alongside intangible assets, such as ideas, branding and networking. 

These, they have said, contain “major implications for education and training programmes and the way work is organised.” Therefore, they wanted to explore how far varying interpretations of expertise could be embraced to generate new ideas. 

They said: “Winning the prize means a great deal because we knew we were challenging some long-established ideas about expertise.”  

“We also hope it will encourage more people, particularly those involved in professional and vocational education and training, to see if the ideas we discuss might be helpful in identifying new areas for research on expertise and new approaches to the design of programmes.” 

They share the prize with Wycliff Edwin Tusiime, Monica Johannesen (both Oslo Metropolitan University) and Greta Björk Gudmundsdottir (University of Oslo), who wrote about the challenges facing Ugandan teacher educators. Both papers have been made free to access by Taylor and Francis until the end of August 2023. 

Links

• Read the paper: Expertise as a ‘capacity for action’: Reframing vocational knowledge from the perspective of work
• Professor Lorna Unwin’s research profile
• Q&A with Professor David Guile
• About JVET
• Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES)
• Department of Education, Practice and Society
• Social Research Institute

Image

Cavan via Adobe Stock.