Learning to become a professional involves not only what an aspirant knows and what an aspirant can do, but also who the aspirant to a profession is becoming. Following this line of thought, the current research examined the role of professional education curriculum and pedagogies in student learning, as they prepare for professional practice. This phenomenological case study research involved 61 enrolled students and 13 teaching staff in an undergraduate program; it utilised spoken, visual, written and observed data, and employed an iterative data analysis spiral method. Findings revealed that the outcomes-based curriculum acted as building blocks that embodied the university’s systematic plan for what and how students will learn, and shaped the educational experiences. The study showed the students’ agentic capabilities intersected with the lived curriculum through pedagogical encounters. Such encounters facilitated and supported the integration of professional ways of knowing, doing and acting and being and becoming, and nurtured the transformation of the self, integral to professional practice preparation. Indeed, the findings revealed that curriculum as transformation concerned a balanced and holistic emphasis on epistemology, praxis and ontological aspects of professional practice preparation. This has implications to processes of student socialisation into future professional practice.

Keywords: professional education, curriculum, qualitative research