I am a Professor of Professional Education at the University of Stirling in the UK. I am Director of ProPEL, international network for research in Professional Practice, Education and Learning, www.propel.stir.ac.uk <http://www.propel.stir.ac.uk> . Our research is interdisciplinary, comparing issues across domains of medicine and health care, management, policing, social services and education. We have two main aims: (1) to better understand professionals’ changing learning, work and responsibilities in rapidly shifting contexts; and (2) to promote effective approaches to support professional learning in higher education, workplace and community. My own research examines sociomaterial approaches to understanding and supporting professionals’ transitions in learning and practice, with particular focus now on medical professionals’ engagements with technology. Recent books include Reconceptualising professional learning: changing knowledge, practices and responsibilities (forthcoming 2014 Routledge); Emerging approaches for educational research: tracing the sociomaterial (Routledge 2011) with R. Edwards and P Sawchuk; Knowledge mobilization and educational research (Routledge 2012); and Actor-network theory in education (Routledge 2010) with R. Edwards.
http://www.stir.ac.uk/education/staff-directory/academic/tara-fenwick/
The purpose of my visit is to meet informally with CHES researchers both to exchange insights from our respective studies of professional learning and educational practice, and to evolve collaborations for future research or publications. My current projects focus on (1) health care professionals’ use of social media in practice, and (2) the use of simulations in medical education. I would appreciate opportunity to meet people with specific interests in these areas. More generally, I hope to speak with anyone working with changing professionalisms, the nature of knowledge production, and practice-based learning amidst the changing terrain of medical work. There is much happening in the UK just now with shifting governance structures and new commissioning roles for medical consultants. These changes portend wide-ranging implications for medical education. It might be interesting to compare these with the changes underway in BC, and the ways that different practitioners are responding to them. Finally, if anyone is interested in sociomaterial approaches, I would welcome opportunities for dialogue about their affordances and limitations in medical education research