A phenomenographic study of the relationship between professional practice and teaching your practice to others

This article reports on a study which aimed to understand how tutors, who also described themselves as creative practitioners, experienced the relationship between practice and teaching. In some disciplines this relationship has been shown to be problematic, but few explanations are given to account for this. A phenomenographic approach to studying this relationship was adopted and five categories of variation in relations are construed, indicating that variation in relations can impact on what and how students learn. Category 1 indicates a focus on transferring knowledge based on skills acquisition, and category 2 on using knowledge in order to develop understanding. In Category 3 the relationship limits the kinds of knowledge students can access. Category 4 indicates an exchange of knowledge between practice and teaching and category 5 integrates practice and teaching in a holistic experience of the relationship.