Theorising conceptualisations: curriculum and professional identity
3.7 The interplay of curricular domains
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interrelationships between the component parts of the curriculum; these are questions to be elaborated upon in the next section.
108 Figure 7 Curriculum: a general schema (Barnett et al., 2001, p.438)
The general model can be varied according to the weight of each domain within the curriculum of a particular discipline field, and the degree to which the three domains are integrated or held separate. In the adapted model shown in Figure 7, the largest circle in professional disciplines is the action (skills) domain, but I have modified this to reflect the current weighting of the domains of knowledge, action and self in the South African law curriculum, which differs from the schema developed in the United Kingdom. The content- heavy nature of law curricula in South Africa is at variance with the model for the other professional disciplines described by Barnett et al. (2001) and I submit that there is only a tangential relationship between the domain of the development of the self (and in many Law faculties, even a complete separation) and the rest of the law curriculum. This is evident from the comparative curriculum table that was constructed from the official documentation of all law faculties (see section 5.1).
KNOWLEDGE
SELF ACTION
S
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Figure 8 Curriculum domains: subject schema for current SA Law curriculum model (adapted from Barnett et al., 2001)
The model in Figure 8 is a theoretical schema that reflects the fluid nature of curriculum change. The relative (flexible) size of each domain allows for the curriculum to respond to external drivers such as the “skills agenda” or an “ontological turn” in higher education (Dall’Alba, 2007). The knowledge domain has a dynamic structure that responds to changing interests and topics in the field, such as the emergence of new subjects. It can function to accommodate altered structures of knowledge within a discipline, as well as responding to pressures external to the discipline. Examples of such curricular responses are evident in the impact in South Africa of a Bill of Rights that has transformed the nature of much existing law, and the advent for example, of electronic banking transactions which have necessitated a range of new regulatory provisions in law. New forms of generating knowledge also affect the knowledge domain, such as researching via electronic databases and access to the intellectual property of others by means of the Internet.
Knowledge
Content knowledge Ways of constructing knowledge New forms of discipline knowledge
Self
Reflection Judgement Professional identity
Action
Key generic skills Computer literacy Research Problem-solving Communication
Legal skills
Clinical skills
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Discipline boundaries are becoming “porous” as interdisciplinary influences spread across fields. However, in professional fields, Barnett and his colleagues observe that there is
“more of a collective interplay between contending forces”, than the “personal space for interpretation and curricula variation that is discerned in other disciplines” (2001, p. 441).
This is apparent in the continuing tension between law academics and legal professional bodies in South Africa and elsewhere over appropriate knowledge and skills in the university law curriculum. This rigid sense of a bounded discipline in Law is reinforced by the overriding homogeneity among law curricula across the many different faculties in the country, and even in England, and the ongoing tension between the skills/theory, academic/vocational debate characterised in the interactions between law academics and the organised professional bodies.
The action domain comprises the key skills which have increasingly become part of undergraduate curricula, in response to government and market demands. Explicit teaching of transferable generic skills has become a feature of most undergraduate curricula, including Law, where computer literacy, numeracy skills and electronic research skills are standard curricular components. SAQA requirements, as stated in the Exit Level Outcomes56 for the LLB degree explicitly expect the development of graduate skills such as the ability to solve problems, apply legal research strategies, communicate effectively in writing, as well as to analyse and evaluate evidence critically.
“Practical legal knowledge" is described and defined by an academic as embracing much more than merely technical skill:
the “legal know-how required to operate intelligently within a world in which legal regulation figures enormously. The most obvious example of this is the knowledge of "how to do things with rules" (Twining and Miers 1976) which, surprisingly, very few undergraduate law students develop to a sophisticated level.…Anyone familiar with the scholarship relating to any of these questions will know that developing such know-how involves much more then developing
"mere" technical skills and knowledge. Rather, it can involve one in the most profound historical, ethical, sociological and legal inquiries. In fact, I would go so far as to say that such practical knowledge is of equal intellectual interest to the knowledge of legal principles, rules and concepts which still tends to monopolise the attention of law teachers and students (G. Johnstone, 1999, p. 5).
56 Government Gazette No 23845 of 2002-09-20.
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Schőn’s (1995) use of the term “knowledge in practice” captured some of the “messy swamp of practice problems” that requires a synthesis of propositional knowledge, professional craft and personal knowledge in professional development (Webster-Wright, 2009, p. 716). In his critique of the objectivist epistemology of “knowledge”, Schön (1995) foreshadowed subsequent thinking about professional development that criticised the separation of knowledge from practice, or compartmentalized it for convenience as a commodity that is separate and distinct from the learner (Webster-Wright, 2009, p. 715).
Clandinin and Connelley (1995) introduced the term “professional knowledge landscapes” in education to expand the conception of knowledge as being broad and complex, incorporating ethical, intellectual and social dimensions. Eraut (1994) identified the difficulty that in the “hot action” of practice, there is often little time to reflect, as Schőn suggests, and thus the two domains are not easily separable.
The “self” domain (Figure 8) is generally weakly articulated in undergraduate curricula, but in theory, it incorporates ideas such as “self-reliance”, developing the capacity to become a reflective practitioner or a critical thinker. This type of learning appears in clinical legal education discourse and is mentioned in the SAQA Exit Level Outcomes for the LLB degree as the acquired ability to “act responsibly and participate as a citizen in an ethical way”, amongst other similar outcomes. I shall argue that in order to enhance the quality of law graduates, increasing space must be allocated in curricula (increasing the size of the circle representing SELF) for integrating this ontological aspect of students’ education. By developing students’ ethical sense of who they are becoming as professionals, the project of legal education as transformative education will be advanced, and will serve to prepare graduates more adequately for their role in society.
In particular, in South Africa, under our democratic constitutional dispensation, the need to educate law graduates so that each one becomes an ethical, responsible citizen has become even more pressing. There is an expectation that law graduates ought to play a role in supporting transformation within the society, not only being transformed by their education, but serving their society as agents of democracy and social reconstruction. The SAQA Exit Level Outcomes specify that a law graduate ought to have
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sufficient skills and knowledge to participate as a responsible citizen in the promotion of a just society and a democratic and constitutional state under the rule of law.
The supporting specific outcomes of this outcome are listed as follows:
The learner has understood that the law has to balance the competing interests of the state, individuals and groups in society.
The learner is able to promote the constitutional principles and values.
The learner is able to promote tolerance of diversity within his/her community and South Africa.
The learner is able to respect different opinions.
The learner is able to explain the functions of all the role players in the legal processes in a constitutional state.
The learner is able to accept his/her responsibility to take part in legal development at a local, provincial, national, regional and international sphere.57
The kind of ontologisation of curriculum that is feasible would include creating space and opportunities for situated and integrated learning of critical thinking, effective communication skills, the development of reflective judgment, problem-solving skills and ethical principles in a dynamic and ever-changing response to professional practice-related demands. Engaging with students to promote their self-awareness and develop their abilities to confront ethical dilemmas, make informed decisions and effectively resolve human conflicts would shift the focus in curricula away from content-laden, doctrinal modules to an approach that is focussed on transforming the students who experience them, in preparation for ethical professional being. The model presented in Figure 9 suggests an ideal integration of the three curricular domains.
57 SAQA Exit Level Outcomes for the LLB Degree. Government Gazette No 23845 of 2002-09-20
113 Knowledge
Developing professional identity
Self Action
The theoretical schema suggests a model for curricular change that would achieve an integration of knowledge, skills and the development of the ethical self, to support the development of professional identity through the foundational academic education phase.
The next section provides a review of theorising focussed on the development of professional identity.