Professional practice

This book is a journey across professional practice and the capabilities required to flourish within and contribute productively to this arena. In this chapter the focus is on professional practice; it sets the scene by exploring what it means to be a professional practitioner which involves the pursuit and embodiment of professionalism and quality in practice engagement. Professional practice is both the goal and setting for these pursuits, and capabilities, both personal and professional, are the means to achieve these outcomes. Professional practice is presented as a dynamic, multidimensional and experiential phenomenon that is embedded in practice contexts, embodied in and transformed through individual performances, and grounded in the ethical aim of doing good for others. Four key aspects of professional practice are examined, while acknowledging that there may always be other ways to understand it than through these four chosen aspects. The four aspects are: the embodied nature of practice, its moral dimensions, its reflective and critical dimensions, and its contextual nature. This discussion leads into Chapter 2 where many and varied capabilities underpinning professional practice are considered. Practice contexts and individual practitioners’ capabilities coalesce to shape current and future practices. Practice is a fluid space in which professionalpractices evolve and capabilities emerge and are enhanced.