Unpacking the Theory-Practice Nexus in Basic Police Education

Abstract

A meaningful connection between theory and practice is crucial for strengthening education quality, especially in professional education programmes such as police education. Meanwhile, the increasing academisation of police education puts more focus on the theoretical and academic courses. This challenges the practical relevance of police education. How the relationships between theory and practice are forged depends partly on educators’ conceptualisations of theory and practice and its implications for the teaching and learning design. We therefore asked Norwegian police educators how they understand the concepts theory and practice in police education, and how they plan and facilitate learning activities to create a meaningful relationship between the two. We conducted face-to-face interviews with police educators from different knowledge domains. In all cases, a simplistic, dichotomous relationship between notions of theory and practice is rejected. Instead, we found multiple relationships, each with different underlying assumptions about how it supports students’ professional development.