In this chapter we elaborate a hermeneutical perspective on professionalism and professional development in the wide range of professions and vocational trainings, which fall under the concern of a University of Applied Sciences (UAS). In a joint research programme of the HU UAS and Utrecht University we aim to unveil and make visible that professionals are continuously making interpretations simply by doing their jobs. Unavoidably, with these interpretations, subjectivity and normativity comes along, setting a moral agenda in the respective professional fields. We show how the more conceptual and philosophical reflections in the humanities at the Academia, is brought in interaction with professional development, vocational education and practice-oriented research at UAS. After this we walk through a number of recently completed or still ongoing research projects in the wide range of professionals in religious education (RE) via general and vocational education to non-educational professions. We end up with six developments or ‘movements’ that are taking place and that can be useful for a better understanding of complexity in vocational education and professions as such, and the imperative for change that is given by this.
Although education programmes are constantly being renewed, innovation does not always lead to anchored changes in educational practice. One explanation is that educational innovation evolves more dynamics than often is assumed. Instead of following a well-designed plan, the core activities of innovation leaders hinge on the ability to swiftly identify and interpret situations with which they are confronted. This suggests that the Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous (VUCA) innovation process requires a specific repertoire from innovation leaders, including a better understanding of their internal decision-making processes. In our search for a fitting repertoire, we discovered the capacity for “situational awareness” as a concept to help understand complex situations and to determine very quickly what needs to be done. Additionally, we focus on how innovation leaders make decisions at significant moments during the innovation process in higher education. We describe how our discovery leads to the development of a lens for innovation leaders, with situational awareness as a starting point, and supplemented with the filtering, framing and guiding function of beliefs as steering principles of internal decision making-processes. This allows to gain a better understanding of how the innovation leader identifies critical situations and responds in terms of interpretation and action.
In een door het lectoraat Revalidatie uitgevoerd onderzoek bij jongeren met niet aangeboren hersenletsel (NAH) hebben veertien studenten van de Academie voor Gezondheid geparticipeerd. Bij jongeren hebben zij, twee jaar na het oplopen van hersenletsel door een ongeval of hersenaandoening, tijdens een huisbezoek, verschillende vragenlijsten over sociaal-maatschappelijke participatie afgenomen. In de periode voorjaar 2010 tot najaar 2012 zijn in vier wervingsrondes hoofdfase studenten via drie methoden geworven voor participatie in het NAH-onderzoek. In dit artikel worden werkwijze werving, voorbereiding en begeleiding van de studenten beschreven. De voorbereiding bestond uit informatieverstrekking en training. De begeleiding vond plaats in de vorm van supervisie. Studenten kwamen in dit onderzoek rechtstreeks en intensief met deelnemers in contact. Bij dit contact worden (beroeps)competenties op de proef gesteld: in vele opzichten een belangrijke aanvulling op hun opleiding. De belangrijkste aanbeveling is, dat studentenparticipatie in praktijkgericht onderzoek goed voorbereid en ondersteund moet worden en aanzienlijk makkelijker verloopt als dit onderdeel is van het curriculum van de opleiding. Ook zal participeren in analyse en verwerking van de onderzoeksgegevens naast dataverzameling meerwaarde voor de student hebben. ABSTRACT Fourteen students of the Academy of Health participated in a research about the social impact of acquired brain injury (ABI) in adolescents. This research was performed by the research group Rehabilitation. The students conducted several questionnaires about social functioning while visiting the adolescents with ABI at home, two years after the youths had suffered from brain injury, through accident or brain illness. During four selection rounds that took place between Spring 2010 and Autumn 2012, students were recruited by three methods to participate in the data collection of the ABI research. This article describes methods of recruitment, preparation and supervision of the selected students. The preparation consisted of education and training. The supervision consisted of feedback and encouragement. Students were in direct and intensive contact with participants during this research. Their (professional) competencies were therefore put to the test and in many respects this was an important addition to their education. The most important recommendation is that student participation be properly prepared and supported in practically oriented research and be a much more integrated component of the programme curriculum. In addition to data collection, participation in the analysis and processing of research data will also be of added value for the student.
