‘Smoke and mirrors’: an examination of the concept of professionalism within the FE sector

Abstract

This paper takes as its focus the much contested concept of professionalism in the context of Further Education (FE). The notion of professionalism per se is discussed and its ‘fitness for purpose’ in terms of the FE sector examined. The difficulty in identifying the basis of ‘professionalism’ in the sector is explored through an examination of the impact that the re‐positioning of FE as a market‐oriented servant of the economy, via the imposition of various government agendas (marketisation, managerialism and performativity), has had on the role of the educator in the sector. The paper concludes by suggesting that there is a ‘new professionalism’ emerging amongst those working within the sector based not on the traditional imperatives of subject expertise and professional knowledge, but on that of continuously updated transferable skills.