Out of a trade, into a profession: auto-ethnographic research exploring how paramedics learn to become lecturers

Davidson, Tom ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2561-4530 (2018) Out of a trade, into a profession: auto-ethnographic research exploring how paramedics learn to become lecturers. In: Borders and Boundaries Conference: Debating the Limits and Possibiities of Education, 3-4 July 2018, Lancaster University, UK. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

When I am asked by my family and friends what I do for a living my answer differs every time. When I started as a lecturer I would say; ‘I am a paramedic that teaches’ or ‘I am a paramedic who works in a university’. The word ‘paramedic’ always came first, and the fact that I work at a university was always disguised or not given prominence. I feel after nearly 5 years in higher education I am starting to feel comfortable stating that I am a ‘lecturer’. Is this reluctance due to my practitioner background? Does my professional identity sit within paramedics or academia? Have I fully transitioned out of practice and into education? I want to explore my experiences of this transition and see how this compares to my colleague’s experiences. Wengers (1998) Communities of Practice (CoP) Theory will be used to look at the inhibiting and enabling factors that support participation within social group. As social interaction involves communication between individuals (Illeris, 2007), understanding the individual’s identity is key to this process. Therefore, the topic of identity will be used as a metric to this transition, to gain a better understanding of how practitioners develop into educators.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Speech)
Departments:	Institute of Health > Centre for Excellence in Paramedic Practice
Depositing User:	Tom Davidson
Date Deposited:	20 Sep 2019 09:08
Last Modified:	12 Jan 2024 20:16
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/5086

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