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The fragmented discourse of the 'knowledgeable doer': nursing academics' and nurse managers' perspectives on a master's education for nurses
Author(s)
Date Issued
2009-05
Date Available
2013-03-14T17:40:41Z
Abstract
There has been a proliferation of taught masters degrees for nurses in recent years, and like masters programmes in other disciplines, the aspirations of such educational endeavours are far from unanimous. This article reports on part of a wider study, and focuses on a qualitative analysis of the perspectives of two key sets of stakeholders, namely academic education providers, and senior clinical nursing personnel, on masters education for nurses. Fifteen participants were interviewed in depth, and data were subjected to a qualitative content analysis. Findings indicated that while both sets of participants invoked the discourse of the knowledgeable doer, that is, the notion of amalgamating a high level of theoretical knowledge with practical know how, there were also differences in how each group deployed this discourse. Academics tended to emphasise the knowing that or theoretical aspect of the discourse, whereas those in senior clinical roles adduced the practical component more strongly. We argue that the discourse of the knowledgeable doer is far from stable, unified and universally agreed, but rather comprises competing elements with some emphasised over others according to the subject position of the particular individual. We locate the diverse perspectives of the two sets of stakeholders within debates about the status of masters programmes in relation to vocational and liberal education.
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Journal
Advances in Health Sciences Education
Volume
14
Issue
2
Start Page
173
End Page
186
Copyright (Published Version)
2009, Springer Netherlands
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1382-4996
1573-1677
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
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Fragmented_discourse_Drennan_and_Hyde_2008.pdf
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