Learning in the Experiential Continuum: A Philosophically Informed View of Professional Socialisation

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Philosophy of Education
• Professional Socialisation Theory

Background:

• Existing nursing education research focuses on describing student learning experiences.
• Limited exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of professional socialisation, including learning approaches and human experience.
• This gap hinders a comprehensive understanding of professional socialisation in nursing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the gap in theoretical understanding of professional socialisation in nursing.
• To develop a philosophical framework integrating experience, learning, and socialisation.
• To propose that learning occurs within an experiential continuum.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical integration of concepts related to experience, learning, and socialisation.
• Development of a theoretical framework for professional socialisation.
• Analysis of existing literature on nursing student socialisation.

Main Results:

• A novel framework is proposed where learning is conceptualised as an experiential continuum.
• This framework provides theoretical scaffolding for understanding student learning during professional socialisation.
• Identifies new avenues for empirical research in nursing professional socialisation.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework offers a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of professional socialisation in nursing.
• Integrating philosophy enriches the theoretical underpinnings of student learning and professional development.
• Encourages future empirical research to validate and expand upon the experiential continuum model.