Pracademic
Encyclopedia
A pracademic is someone who is both an academic and an active practitioner in their subject area.
The term has a history of at least 30 years, but its first coining is unclear. The earliest reference may have been identified by a subscriber to Worldwide Words as being 1973.
In his 2001 Article 'The Life and Times of Pracademics', Paul L Posner discusses the term pracademic. Since Posner's article many academics have used the term in journals and elsewhere. In 2001 Maria R Volpe and David Chandler in their paper in Negotiation Journal describe the bridging role as that of the 'Pracademic'. Again in 2001 Willard T. Price uses the term in the same context of academic and practicing professional in Public Works. George L Hanbury builds on the term in his paper on the ethics of honor by describing himself as a Pracademic and observing his subject from this stand point.
Although the core bridging concept appears to be the main theme several other usages have emerged. The idea of the Pracademic being a type of teaching style for Entrepreneur
s has appeared in several places. A pracademic degree for instance describes the case of a new degree in the UK that is taught by practitioners to students who want to be entrepreneurs. However this use of the term remains close to the main definition of bridging the academic and practical professional world. Additionally many academics now describe themselves as Pracademics on their web sites and this use of the term aligns well with definition set out here. There may be other uses of the term.
The terms was first used in relation to the UK resilience community
at the inaugural conference of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management (April 2009). Peter Simpson from the London Fire Brigade
, who undertook a Master’s programme at Leicester University as a mature student, described people like himself and others in the resilience community as ‘pracademics’ and showed delegates the ‘Pracademic Curve’, which clearly illustrated the inter-relationship between the practitioner and academic communities, particularly as it affects those who go into academia having already embarked on a career as a practitioner.
In 2008, the term was introduced in the Criminal Justice education arena, with a paper and presentation entitled The Pracademic and Academic in Criminal Justice Education at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences by Stephen A. Morreale of Worcester State University and James E. McCabe of Sacred Heart University. The paper focuses on the benefit of blending faculty that represent both the academic and pracademic perspectives, for the benefit of both the academic department and Criminal Justice students.
The term has a history of at least 30 years, but its first coining is unclear. The earliest reference may have been identified by a subscriber to Worldwide Words as being 1973.
In his 2001 Article 'The Life and Times of Pracademics', Paul L Posner discusses the term pracademic. Since Posner's article many academics have used the term in journals and elsewhere. In 2001 Maria R Volpe and David Chandler in their paper in Negotiation Journal describe the bridging role as that of the 'Pracademic'. Again in 2001 Willard T. Price uses the term in the same context of academic and practicing professional in Public Works. George L Hanbury builds on the term in his paper on the ethics of honor by describing himself as a Pracademic and observing his subject from this stand point.
Although the core bridging concept appears to be the main theme several other usages have emerged. The idea of the Pracademic being a type of teaching style for Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s has appeared in several places. A pracademic degree for instance describes the case of a new degree in the UK that is taught by practitioners to students who want to be entrepreneurs. However this use of the term remains close to the main definition of bridging the academic and practical professional world. Additionally many academics now describe themselves as Pracademics on their web sites and this use of the term aligns well with definition set out here. There may be other uses of the term.
The terms was first used in relation to the UK resilience community
Resilience (organizational)
Resilience is defined as “the positive ability of a system or company to adapt itself to the consequences of a catastrophic failure caused by power outage, a fire, a bomb or similar” event....
at the inaugural conference of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management (April 2009). Peter Simpson from the London Fire Brigade
London Fire Brigade
The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for London.Founded in 1865, it is the largest of the fire services in the United Kingdom and the fourth-largest in the world with nearly 7,000 staff, including 5,800 operational firefighters based in 112 fire...
, who undertook a Master’s programme at Leicester University as a mature student, described people like himself and others in the resilience community as ‘pracademics’ and showed delegates the ‘Pracademic Curve’, which clearly illustrated the inter-relationship between the practitioner and academic communities, particularly as it affects those who go into academia having already embarked on a career as a practitioner.
In 2008, the term was introduced in the Criminal Justice education arena, with a paper and presentation entitled The Pracademic and Academic in Criminal Justice Education at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences by Stephen A. Morreale of Worcester State University and James E. McCabe of Sacred Heart University. The paper focuses on the benefit of blending faculty that represent both the academic and pracademic perspectives, for the benefit of both the academic department and Criminal Justice students.