ABSTRACT
This chapter elaborates the nature and worth of mimetic learning and associated epistemological practices, as enacted through professional practice. An account of mimesis (that is, observation, imitation and action) is important given that much learning across professional working lives occurs without direct guidance or being instructed by others. It is largely directed and mediated by individuals themselves, mimetically. Therefore, explanatory accounts of mimetic learning and development processes are now required to complement those emphasising direct interpersonal interactions with others, such as through direct instruction and mentoring. Explanations of individuals’ personal epistemological practices, such as mimetic learning, are informed by recent contributions from anthropology and cognitive science. Given these contributions, a fresh consideration of mimetic learning is now warranted. It can assist further understanding how initial and ongoing learning in and for the professions arise through this commonest and most long-standing means of learning through and for work and implications for learning about and through technology.
