Devenir archiviste : la construction de la professionnalité en formation initiale universitaire

Abstract

Between a professionalised university training course and the definition of a profession there are of course many interactions and mutual influences. Training must follow the changes in a profession but the profession is also influenced by the availability of longer-term training programmes and training courses which offer qualifications that legitimise and enhance the profession. The profession of archivist is governed by this general educational rule which is at work in the way students acquire their professional identity. The assimilation of what education sciences call ‘professionality’ does not merely mean the capacity for making informed decisions in a given work situation. It also involves the capacity to give meaning to an activity, to enter into dialogue with the representations, norms and values that surround this activity. This is a complex and dynamic process. It implies an adhesion and conformity with practices, but with a dispassionate view, thanks to a process of mobilisation of abstract and formal knowledge. The result is a strong interdependance between the different actors which contribute to the recognition and legitimation of the profession. A university training course cannot be developed if it is not connceted with the professional milieu it prepares for, even though it must also offer a critical posture, which is the hallmark of a university education and a guarantee of adaptability for future profesionnals. But a profession also requires formal qualifications, recognised diplomas and a formalisation of its skills.

Keywords

• professionnality
• archivist
• university Education