Exploring Knowing/Being Through Discordant Professional Practice

Abstract

Despite an increasing array of ‘quality indicators’ and substantial investments in educating professionals, there continues to be clear evidence of discordant, or even negligent, practice by accredited professionals. We refer to discordant professional practice as being ‘out of tune’ with what is accepted as good practice. In a conceptual/theoretical analysis, we use discordant practice as a backdrop to exploring ways of being professionals. Our analysis is grounded in Heidegger’s notion of being-in-the-world. We explore how being-in-the-world can be uncanny and discordant, while at the same time, dwelling in the world implies familiarity and a sense of being ‘at home’. We also draw upon Merleau-Ponty’s arguments that know-how is performed, settling in the body to become habitual, while also incorporating others and things in the accomplishment of practice. We argue that conceiving know-how as knowing/being provides insights into what is entailed in learning to be professionals.

Keywords:

• discordant practice
• knowing/being
• know-how
• professional practice
• ways of being

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this article was presented at the European Conference on Educational Research in Istanbul, Turkey. We are grateful to the participants of the conference and also to Jörgen Sandberg for comments and questions that enabled us to improve the article.