Education for professionals through work-integrated learning

Professionals progress through three stages of development; acquisition of knowledge, specialisation and integration of knowledge. Much of the current emphasis for professional development is on development of competencies. Entry into a profession is dependent on the professional acquiring a level of competency sufficient to practice. This paper argues that professionals need to acquire new specialist disciplines and/or to develop their knowledge beyond a competence/sufficiency level. Learning for this requires a greater depth than mere competency. The paper explores how Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) can enhance professionals' careers. Existing training practices of separating work and learning inhibit learning transfer. The complex and ill-structured nature of professionals' work demands that professionals draw on real world situations to develop the conceptual knowledge needed to be applied to novel situations. Professional Societies provide the context for learning, domain knowledge and learning environment so that professionals are able to apply the knowledge and skills gained through education. WIL is widely reported in literature as a philosophy of learning which is appropriate for development of professionals. It incorporates hands-on work experience that assumes a level of explicit knowledge/skill on the part of the learner and the exchange of tacit knowledge/skill from the real-world to the learner.