Social practice communities and debate about psychology education

Abstract

This article presents reflections upon application of the concept of a social practice community, specifically involving psychology students in a reflective process about their university educations. Students from the fourth and fifth years of the psychology programs at the Federal University of Parana (UFPR) and Tuiuti University of Parana (UTP) participated. The primary objective of this activity was to unite students from two different higher education institutions, one public and one private, so that they could combine their thoughts about their professional educations. Stemming from the theoretical perspective of historical-cultural psychology, the assumption was that when subjects from different cultures (hence embedded into communities with specific social practices) develop common activities with opportunities for sharing meanings, establishing personal relationships, and sharing life experiences, differences would spur involved subjects into further reflection, self-awareness, learning, and development. The principle behind the methodology consisted of our belief that the group process where subjects shared their experiences, memories, and reflections about previous years in the respective programs and their education as psychologists is as important as the final result of these activities. Interpretive analysis of the results indicates an overall orientation towards clinical practice and training at UTP and towards research at UFPR. The education at UFPR is more general and strongly based upon epistemological and theoretical assumptions, while that at UTP is aimed more at the job market and practical application of clinical psychology. The students from the two universities themselves concluded that they didn’t feel confident and sufficiently prepared enough to act autonomously as professional psychologists. We consider that participation in this research project enabled students to have a more critical reflection about psychology education, affecting development of their professional identities.