DailyPost 271
PRACTITIONERS ALL, PRACTISING NONE?
All of us love to be called practitioners rather than arm chair theoreticians. The reality is, we are getting closer to the theoretician, that too not the best ones. A practitioner ought to be a professional & vice versa. The professional has two basic traits; one he works unsupervised & secondly, he declares the successful completion of his work.
As per the medical ethics & code of conduct, the doctor should be reasonably abreast with the latest in his field. A practitioner is left with no other option. Across board from a nursery teacher to the political executive, the only way to deliver is to be well abreast with the knowledge / skills / competencies in the field, we are mandated to deliver. In this world of both exponential learning & change, there cannot be a via media. Via media approach has somehow delivered some stunted deliverables so far, it not going to happen in the future, as we foresee.
Practitioners in general are surviving on their degrees & diplomas & on some basic training imparted to them as a part of induction to any particular business entity or service. Post this great academic & professional acquisition, it’s just a mechanical existence. Further advancement is calculated on the number of years put on the job & accordingly the package & perks progresses, it barely has anything to do with the expertise & competencies acquired during the commensurate period.
Experiential learning has to be the name of the game. Experiential learning is an ideal synthesis of learnings gained out of the project & professional work & academic & relevant research output, during the same period of time. The practitioner has to be fully conversant in this learning, which can be used in further projects & professional tasks assigned to him. Slowly, he creates a niche professional area for himself. How many of us do qualify, based on this test of a practitioner & thus be called a practitioner & a professional.
A PRACTITIONER OUGHT TO BE A PROFESSIONAL PAR EXCELLENCE.
Sanjay Sahay