Professional Responsibility：New Horizons of Praxis

What does professional responsibility entail in an increasingly insecure, unpredictable and de-regulated world? This is the core question addressed in this text. The point of departure for the various contributions is that professional responsibility is a way of being in the world that includes a particular mandate – to behave in a manner consistent with moral and societal obligations as a professional. Increasingly, however, there is a lack of consensus as to what such mandates imply, and even more dissensus as to what appropriate exercise of responsibility entails. One of the distinctive features of this book is the manner in which it combines normative and empirical dimensions. It moves beyond dualistic perspectives to create a more inclusive conversation on professional responsibility.
In the face of increasing complexity of professional work, professional responsibility remains open to further development. The book signals direction for the development of professional responsibility, and while seeking to give direction to ongoing deliberations avoids the pitfalls of performativity.
The chapters are grounded in a variety of disciplinary perspectives and traverse various professional boundaries in a self-reflexive manner to create more inclusive, transformative and generative narratives on professional responsibility. This is achieved by:


Focusing on normative dimensions of professional work and combining these with a focus on empirical aspects of professional practice in a variety of setting, and




Recognising the inevitable tensions between personal trust and responsibility, and largely depersonalised policies and strategies of quality control when normative and empirical aspects of professional responsibility are situated within their policy environments.


The concluding narrative moves beyond deconstruction, complexity and critique of these considerations to a construction of new imagined horizons of professional responsibility from theoretical, conceptual and practical perspectives. This text sets out to transform professional responsibility through a re-configuration of its constituent elements in imaginative and creative ways and by indicating the ‘real world’ import of re-charting the field.

Ciaran Sugrue is Professor of Education, University College Dublin, Ireland
Tone Dyrdal Solbrekke is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education and Leader of the Master Program in Teacher Education University of Oslo, Norway.

Section I: Professional Responsibility: A Theoretical & Practical Matter 1. Professional Responsibility: Back to the Future Tone Dyrdal Solbrekke & Ciaran Sugrue 2. Towards An Ecological Professionalism Ron Barnett 3. Education and Wellbeing: Teachers’ Care as a Moral Praxis Maeve O’ Brien 4. Professional Responsibility Under Pressure? Tomas Englund & Tone Dyrdal Solbrekke 5. Teaching Integrity and the Development of Professional Responsibility Bruce Macfarlane Section II: Professional Responsibility: A Practical & Theoretical Matter 6. Risk, Trust and Leadership Peter Gronn 7. Teaching Professional Responsibility: A Clash of Approaches in Legal and Nursing Education William Sullivan & Molly Sutphen 8. Professional Responsibility: Persistent Commitment, Perpetual Vulnerability? Geert Kelchtermans 9. Leadership: Professionally Responsible Rule Bending and Breaking? Ciaran Sugrue 10. Re-framing Professional Responsibilities in Nursing: Exploring Competing Constructions of Responsibility Sally Wellard and Kristin Heggen 11. Teacher Education for Professional Responsibility: What Should it Look Like? Berit Karseth Section III: Professional Responsibility: New Horizons of Praxis 12. Professional Responsibility: New Horizons of Praxis Ciaran Sugrue &Tone Dyrdal Solbrekke