Decomposition in Professional Education: Professional Ontologies for Guiding Perception and Practice

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Knowledge in Professional Development

Abstract

Professional ontologies, or shared languages of practice, may be powerful pedagogical tools for guiding novice perception and practice in the context professional education. As Grossman et al. (2009) described, instructors introduce discrete categories when they decompose, or break down, “complex practice into its constituent parts” (p. 2069). These categories, if used consistently, may support students’ perception, communication, and practice. To explore this hypothesis, the current analysis examines fieldnotes and transcripts of ten classroom observations, across five instructors, in one clinical psychology program. Decompositions were observed across all classrooms; however, their pedagogical robustness varied considerably across instructors. One instructor, in particular, used decomposition to create an especially rich professional ontology for guiding students’ perception and practice.

Author

• Jamie O'Keeffe, Stanford University