Professionals such as medical doctors, aeroplane pilots, lawyers, and technical specialists find that some of their peers have reached high levels of achievement that are difficult to measure objectively. In order to understand to what extent it is possible to learn from these expert performers for the purpose of helping others improve their performance, we first need to reproduce and measure this performance. This book is designed to provide the first comprehensive overview of research on the acquisition and training of professional performance as measured by objective methods rather than by subjective ratings by supervisors. In this collection of articles, the world's foremost experts discuss methods for assessing the experts' knowledge and review our knowledge on how we can measure professional performance and design training environments that permit beginning and experienced professionals to develop and maintain their high levels of performance, using examples from a wide range of professional domains.

Draw on and develop the skills of your own faculty to provide effective, job-embedded professional development (PD) that is based on proven strategies and cost-effective PD models.

This book provides a contemporary view of the characteristics of expertise for teaching in higher education, based on the strong foundation of research into expertise, and empirical and practical knowledge of the development of teaching in higher education. Taking key themes related to the characteristics of expertise, this edited collection delivers practical ideas for supporting and enabling professional learning and development in higher education as well as theoretical constructs for the basis of personal reflection on practice. Providing an accessible, evidence-informed theoretical framework designed to support individuals wishing to improve their teaching, Developing Expertise for Teaching in Higher Education considers teaching excellence from an expertise perspective and discusses how it might be supported and available to all. It invites a call to action to all policymakers and strategic leaders who make a claim for teaching excellence to consider how professional learning and the development of expertise can be embedded in the culture, environment and ways of working in higher education institutions. Full of practical examples, based on scholarship and experience, to guide individual teachers, educational developers and policymakers in higher education, this book is a must-read text for those new to teaching in higher education and those looking to improve their practice.

Professionals deal with complex problems which require working with the expertise of others, but being able to collaborate resourcefully with others is an additional form of expertise. This book draws on a series of research studies to explain what is involved in the new concept of working relationally across practices. It demonstrates how spending time building common knowledge between different professions aids collaboration. The core concept is relational agency, which can arise between practitioners who work together on a complex task: whether reconfiguring the trajectory of a vulnerable child or developing a piece of computer software. Common knowledge, which captures the motives and values of each profession, is essential for the exercise of relational agency and contributing to and working with the common knowledge of what matters for each profession is a new form of relational expertise. The book is based on a wide body of field research including the author’s own. It tackles how to research expert practices using Vygotskian perspectives, and demonstrates how Cultural Historical and Activity Theory approaches contribute to how we understand learning, practices and organisations.

This book clearly approaches the "21st century skills-issue" ... Hands-on, reflective, thorough: a definite must-have for students, professionals and HE institutions.′ - Nieke Campagne, Careers/Policy Advisor, Leiden University, The Netherlands Whether you are about to embark on your business degree programme, are already a business student or are a business graduate, this book helps you to develop yourself and your career in ways which will benefit you, your current and future employers and society. Focused on developing study and personal skills to enhance your employability, it provides insights and practical guidance on: Developing a skill set and competencies that will be valued by employers, including team-working, critical thinking, networking, managing emotion and managing technological change Self-profiling through career and life planning, and self-presentation through career communication, volunteering and internships Becoming a global business practitioner, able to anticipate economic and cultural change, understand a diversity of world¬views and the idea of ‘global responsibility’ Becoming a responsible and ethical business practitioner, embodying virtues and values which are increasingly sought after by employers in line with consumer expectations. ′The first thing I really love about Paul Dowson’s hugely comprehensive book is its clarity; he takes complex themes and turns them into accessible learning outcomes. The other thing to love is its humanity – it is insightful and borne of a deep concern about how students transition from higher education to working life and citizenship.′ - Jane Artess, Director of Research, Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU), UK

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

This volume analyzes different types of knowledge and know-how used by practising professionals in their work and how these different kinds of knowledge are acquired by a combination of learning from books, learning from people and learning from personal experience.; Drawing on various examples, problems addressed include the way theory changes and is personalized in practice, and how individuals form generalizations out of their practice. Eraut considers the meaning of client-centredness and its implications, and to what extent professional knowledge is based on intuition, understanding and learning. He considers the issue of competence versus knowledge and the effect of lifelong learning on the quality of practice.