Knowledge creation and knowledge use in professioal contexts

ABSTRACT This paper presents a radical reconceptualisation of the theory-practice problem in initial and continuing professional education, based on considering the influence of academic and professional contexts on knowledge operation and knowledge use. The first part is concerned with making important conceptual distinctions, the second with implications for the practice of professional education and the relationships between higher education and the professions. The conceptual section of the paper first distinguishes different kinds of professional knowledge with particular attention to generalisability (knowledge of particular cases, knowledge of precepts, knowledge of theory) and explicitness (codified knowledge, knowledge embedded in traditions, craft Knowledge, tacit knowledge, etc.). Then it takes Broudy's four modes of knowledge use—replication, application, interpretation, association—and illustrates their significance for understanding the theory-practice relationship in a number of professions...