Curricular internships and soft skills in professional degree programmes: a phenomenographic document analysis comparing the health and humanities fields
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
In the Italian higher education system, a significant asymmetry persists between health sciences health sciences and humanities in the design of professional internships. While L/SNT2 degree programmes include (Speech Therapy and Physiotherapy) structured syllabuses with explicit objectives, skills and soft skills, L-19 and L-39 lack national internship syllabi (Education Sciences and Social Work). This study investigates how soft skills are expressed explicitly or implicitly in institutional documents, adopting a phenomenographic approach. Document analysis reveals three categories: explicit and assessable integration (healthcare area); implicit and fragmented presence; and significant absence (humanities area). Findings highlight an epistemic asymmetry that undermines transparency and reflective skills. The study calls for more equitable and transparent internship models to enhance students’ learning outcomes.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Gli autori che pubblicano su questa rivista accettano le condizioni previste dalla licenza Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Ashwin, P. (2020). Transforming university education: A manifesto. Bloomsbury Academic.
Biesta, G. (2010). Good education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy (1st ed.). Routledge.
Cedefop. (2023). European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning. Publications Office. Cedefop reference series; No 124. http://dx.doi.org/10.2801/389827
Cedefop. (2024). Terminology of European education and training policy: a selection of 430 terms: third edition. Publications Office. Cedefop reference series. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2801/991753
Council of the European Union. (2012). Council recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning. Official Journal of the European Union, C 398, 1–5. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012H1222%2801%29
Del Gobbo, G., & Federighi, P. (2021). Professioni dell’educazione e della formazione. Orientamenti, criteri e approfondimenti per una tassonomia. EditPress.
Finlay, L. (2002). Negotiating the swamp: The opportunity and challenge of reflexivity in research practice. Qualitative Research, 2(2), 209–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/146879410200200205
Goleman, D. P. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam Books.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage.
Marton, F. (1981). Phenomenography: Describing conceptions of the world around us. Instructional Science, 10(2), 177–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00132516
Marton, F. (2014). Necessary Conditions of Learning (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315816876
Pang, M. F., & Ki, W. W. (2016). Revisiting the Idea of “Critical Aspects.” Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 60(3), 323–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2015.1119724
Rumiati, R. (2023). Soft skills. Cosa sono e perché sono importanti. Raffaello Cortina Editore.
Schön, D. A. (1992). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315237473
Sims, D. A. (2024). Introducing the research design of phenomenography. Medical Science Educator, 34(5), 1167–1174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-024-02082-0
Tight, M. (2015). Theory development and application in higher education research: the case of academic drift. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 47(1), 84–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2015.974143