3 - The transformation of professional education in the nineteenth century

Summary

Introduction

Concepts

The problem of this chapter is mainly descriptive, but to solve the descriptive task a theoretical basis had to be laid. One part of this basis concerns professions, another science and education. A few initial considerations are consequently necessary concerning both aspects.

It is not possible to write an article on professional education in general in the nineteenth century. There was not one single type of professional education, nor was there any single profession that we could label ‘archetypical’. Many different routes led to professional standing: apprenticeship, university courses, and specialised technical institutes all played a role in creating a professional society. Furthermore, when dealing with Scandinavia and the European Continent it is necessary to rely on a definition of the term ‘profession’ which is different from English language usage, for in the parts of Europe which are not English-speaking the concept ‘profession’ is not of domestic origin, though now imported and used in sociological discourse.

‘Professions’ are, generally speaking, ‘knowledge-based groups’. These groups, furthermore, are defined in terms of their identification with their particular knowledge base and found their market strategy on their exclusive access to this particular kind of knowledge. There are two main scholarly approaches to the definition of professions. The first may be called ‘essentialist’ in that it tries to pinpoint those properties that are meant to be ‘essential’ or characteristic of all professions. This approach is therefore a priori. A second or a posteriori approach can be termed ‘strategic’. It deduces professional values from the conduct or actions of professional groups in various social circumstances.