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Article published In: Language and Dialogue
Vol. 15:3 (2025) ► pp.438–468

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Emergent professional practices

The construction of an institutional trainer role in a creative workshop

 | University of Jyväskylä
 | University of Jyväskylä
 | University of Jyväskylä
Published online: 26 June 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00202.mik
Abstract
This article investigates the professional practices of creative entrepreneurs. The data come from organizational training workshops provided by a photographic artist who acts in a new training profession and uses art-based methods for the purposes of organizational development. Utilizing conversation analysis, we investigate how the artist constructs her trainer role during reflexive leadership exercises, through her feedback turns in initiation-response-feedback (IRF) sequences. The results show that while the artist displays limited epistemic authority with regard to leadership, she draws on her deontic rights, having to do with the procedural flow of the exercises. She may also use facilitative practices that encourage participants towards further reflection. The study sheds light on the practices and developments of new and complex professional settings.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The initiation-response-feedback sequence in institutional encounters
  • 3.Data and analytical focus
  • 4.Methodological approach
  • 5.Doing being a trainer through a feedback turn
    • 5.1Accepting the interpretation and managing topic progression through a concise feedback turn
    • 5.2Rejecting the interpretation through feedback turn
    • 5.3Broadening the discussion through formulations and questions
  • 6.Conclusions
  • References
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