Professional Education. ERIC Digest.

Overview & Synopsis

Aspects of professional competence and professional socialization that are being emphasized in professional education programs are summarized. Of concern are generic outcomes of professional preparation, outcome-related issues and trends common to professional education in diverse fields, some problems that concern professional educators, and recommendations for future action and study. The generic outcomes include six aspects of professional competence: conceptual competence, technical competence, contextual competence, interpersonal communication competence, integrative competence, and adaptive competence. Five attitudinal outcomes are also addressed: career marketability, professional identity, professional ethics, scholarly concern for improvement of the profession, and motivation for continued learning. The issues and trends concerning these outcomes were drawn primarily from recent articles in educational journals of 12 professional fields: architecture, business administration, dentistry, education, engineering, journalism, law, library science, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work. (SW)