Andre Vågan | OsloMet—Oslo Metropolitan University (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Andre Vågan

Sykepleien Forskning, 2014

Journal of Education and Work, 2013

ABSTRACT This article uses an activity–theoretical perspective on context to explore final-year s... more ABSTRACT This article uses an activity–theoretical perspective on context to explore final-year student nurses’ and student teachers’ perceptions of learning in their professional programmes. We analyse focus group interviews about critical aspects of teaching and nursing preparation and articulate processes of learning within and across coursework and fieldwork training. The comparative analysis reveals particular differences between students’ perceptions whereas student nurses, especially in the final year of their programme, experience that both college teachers and practice supervisors help them to contextualise theoretical and practical forms of knowledge so as to enhance their learning, student teachers portray their four-year programme as largely disconnected from the school setting with significant negative learning effects. We discuss possible explanations for these differences and argue that situated approaches should be expanded to better explain and facilitate the process of meaningful learning and thinking.

Journal of Education and Work, 2008

This article examines the discrepancy between newly qualified nurses’ and physicians’ assessment ... more This article examines the discrepancy between newly qualified nurses’ and physicians’ assessment of acquired knowledge in education and their assessment of the knowledge demands in occupational practice. Knowledge learned in educational institutions is traditionally conceived as general and decontextualised with great potential for transmission transcending different contexts and situations. The gaps between knowledge learned in higher education and knowledge demands in professional practice are, however, not merely a failure in the delivery of knowledge. It is argued that the concept of ‘boundary‐crossing’ is an appropriate way of reconceptualising the theory–practice gaps because it focuses on the challenges as well as constructive processes graduates face in their first years in professional work. The empirical material is based upon questionnaires handed in by students in their final semester 2001 and three years after graduation in 2004.

Medical Education, 2009

Objectives Communication skills training in undergraduate medical education is considered to pla... more Objectives Communication skills training in undergraduate medical education is considered to play an important role in medical students’ formation of their professional identity. This qualitative study explores Year 1 students’ perceptions of their identities when practising communication skills with real patients.Methods A total of 23 individual semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted with 10 students during their first year of communication skills training. All interviews and discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed for emergent themes relating to identity.Results Students struggled to communicate professionally with patients because of a lack of clinical knowledge and skills. Consequently, students enacted other identities, yet patients perceived them differently, causing conversational ambiguities.Discussion Students’ perceptions challenge educational goals, suggesting that there is limited potential for the formation of professional identity through early training. Teacher-doctors must acknowledge how students’ low levels of clinical competence and patients’ behaviour complicate students’ identity formation.

Mind, Culture, and Activity, 2011

This article discusses a sociocultural approach to processes of identity that has implications fo... more This article discusses a sociocultural approach to processes of identity that has implications for how we understand learning and identity formation in education. Focusing on the socially constructed and culturally figured nature of language, tools, and interactions in learning contexts, this approach assists in the appreciation of how students navigate through and develop an understanding of themselves in different educational contexts. To this end, reference is made to Wortham's work on interactional positioning in narratives and the work of Holland and colleagues on figured worlds. Wortham provides the tools for a systematic analysis of how individuals construct their identities by positioning themselves in discursive interaction. Holland and colleagues alert us to the cultural shaping of such positioning in cultural worlds and the artifacts mediating identity formation. To explore the potential of combining these lenses, a case study is described involving a series of interviews with medical students about their self-perceptions in two contexts of clinical training. The case study highlights how different worlds and identities are formed in these educational contexts.

Sykepleien Forskning, 2014

Journal of Education and Work, 2013

ABSTRACT This article uses an activity–theoretical perspective on context to explore final-year s... more ABSTRACT This article uses an activity–theoretical perspective on context to explore final-year student nurses’ and student teachers’ perceptions of learning in their professional programmes. We analyse focus group interviews about critical aspects of teaching and nursing preparation and articulate processes of learning within and across coursework and fieldwork training. The comparative analysis reveals particular differences between students’ perceptions whereas student nurses, especially in the final year of their programme, experience that both college teachers and practice supervisors help them to contextualise theoretical and practical forms of knowledge so as to enhance their learning, student teachers portray their four-year programme as largely disconnected from the school setting with significant negative learning effects. We discuss possible explanations for these differences and argue that situated approaches should be expanded to better explain and facilitate the process of meaningful learning and thinking.

Journal of Education and Work, 2008

This article examines the discrepancy between newly qualified nurses’ and physicians’ assessment ... more This article examines the discrepancy between newly qualified nurses’ and physicians’ assessment of acquired knowledge in education and their assessment of the knowledge demands in occupational practice. Knowledge learned in educational institutions is traditionally conceived as general and decontextualised with great potential for transmission transcending different contexts and situations. The gaps between knowledge learned in higher education and knowledge demands in professional practice are, however, not merely a failure in the delivery of knowledge. It is argued that the concept of ‘boundary‐crossing’ is an appropriate way of reconceptualising the theory–practice gaps because it focuses on the challenges as well as constructive processes graduates face in their first years in professional work. The empirical material is based upon questionnaires handed in by students in their final semester 2001 and three years after graduation in 2004.

Medical Education, 2009

Objectives Communication skills training in undergraduate medical education is considered to pla... more Objectives Communication skills training in undergraduate medical education is considered to play an important role in medical students’ formation of their professional identity. This qualitative study explores Year 1 students’ perceptions of their identities when practising communication skills with real patients.Methods A total of 23 individual semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted with 10 students during their first year of communication skills training. All interviews and discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed for emergent themes relating to identity.Results Students struggled to communicate professionally with patients because of a lack of clinical knowledge and skills. Consequently, students enacted other identities, yet patients perceived them differently, causing conversational ambiguities.Discussion Students’ perceptions challenge educational goals, suggesting that there is limited potential for the formation of professional identity through early training. Teacher-doctors must acknowledge how students’ low levels of clinical competence and patients’ behaviour complicate students’ identity formation.

Mind, Culture, and Activity, 2011

This article discusses a sociocultural approach to processes of identity that has implications fo... more This article discusses a sociocultural approach to processes of identity that has implications for how we understand learning and identity formation in education. Focusing on the socially constructed and culturally figured nature of language, tools, and interactions in learning contexts, this approach assists in the appreciation of how students navigate through and develop an understanding of themselves in different educational contexts. To this end, reference is made to Wortham's work on interactional positioning in narratives and the work of Holland and colleagues on figured worlds. Wortham provides the tools for a systematic analysis of how individuals construct their identities by positioning themselves in discursive interaction. Holland and colleagues alert us to the cultural shaping of such positioning in cultural worlds and the artifacts mediating identity formation. To explore the potential of combining these lenses, a case study is described involving a series of interviews with medical students about their self-perceptions in two contexts of clinical training. The case study highlights how different worlds and identities are formed in these educational contexts.

Log In