Opportunities and barriers to forming a professional identity: communities of practice within UK funeral directing

Abstract

The status of funeral directors, including whether or not the industry can be considered a legitimate ‘profession’, has long been a topic of interest in this journal. Contributing to this ongoing debate, this paper considers opportunities and barriers to professional development in the UK funeral industry. In so doing, the paper makes particular reference to ‘communities of practice’ (CP), a model of situated learning. Previous research in comparable sectors has indicated that CP enhances individual and organisational performance through emphasising commitment to sharing and developing best practice within an area of common interest. Drawing on interviews with and presentations given by funeral directors/arrangers, the paper examines perceptions of performance, alongside issues of mistrust and resistance to change. Data will show that participants conveyed a situation of competing forces in terms of a hierarchical structure within the industry that perpetuates a lack of incentive to invest in education and training. At the same time, a new generation of staff is developing an alternative vision of funeral directing, which includes wider public recognition of their skills. In view of the industry’s long-standing drive for professional standing, the paper identifies the potential of CP as a means of negotiating such competing forces to provide a medium through which issues associated with regulation can be addressed.

Keywords:

• funeral directors
• funeral industry
• communities of practice
• professions
• education

Notes

1 During the twentieth century, funeral directors gradually acquired complete custody of the body as a result of the place of death shifting from the community to an institutional context. Alongside this shift disposal practices have become increasingly bureaucratic and complex, to confer greater responsibility and control on funeral directors (Howarth, 2007).

2 Block teaching weeks are held at three points during the academic year, in the context of a 2 year full-time or 3 year part-time, distance learning programme.

3 Though, see Tanaka (2007) in which ‘CP’ has been applied to the Japanese funeral industry.

4 A recent type of contract under which there is no guarantee of a fixed number of hours but rather employees are expected to be ‘on call’.

5 A brief review of current vacancies suggests a starting salary of around £15,000 pa. for a funeral arranger.

6 There are also two other national trade bodies, the Society for Allied and Independent Funerals and the British Institute of Funeral Directors.

7 Often credited to Bourdieu (1977), social capital is the benefit derived from connections and social relationships between individuals and groups.