Novel demands on the professionals – how internationalization may be a path to support the development of professional reflectivity and professional imagination

Currently new demands on the (health) professionals may be identified following massive changes to both their work and societal role. Increased use of technological solutions including tele-medicine and ambient assisted living technology; a strengthened focus on inter-professional and cross-sectorial collaboration; citizen-centered approaches including a strengthened focus on rehabilitation and health promotion; and other major changes to the way the health system operates shift the role of and the demands on the professionals. A fundamental aspect of this current development is a demand for nurses and other health professionals capable of continuously transforming their own practice. At issue is thus not merely the addition of some extra skills to the professional tool box; the current development changes the professional role at a more fundamental level.
From an educational perspective this calls for a general assessment of study content and structure – and at the more essential level it raises questions of the educational socialization processes. If the aim is professionals capable of on-going transformation of their own practices in a complex interplay with new demands and possibilities, then students’ professional socialization must be an open-ended reflective process and not merely a question of adaptation to established norms and practices. Development of what I will designate professional reflectivity and professional imagination thus become increasingly central educational objectives.
In this presentation in addition to a general discussion of changing demands on the professionals I will in particular focus on how increased international outlook and exchange activities may be one way to promote reflective professional socialization. International educational activities provide both students and teachers with possibilities to experience different approaches across countries to both education and the professional practice – and internationalization of education may hence be perceived as a “short-cut” for stimulating especially the development of professional imagination.