Chapter 11: The Identity of a Learning Specialist in Non-Formal Education Context: Balancing Entrepreneurial, Organizational, and Innovative Ecosystems

Nowadays, the instability of the investment into material things becomes evident, and attention is focused on human capital as an integral part of the modern “hi-tech” process. The focus is on professionals in the sphere of corporate education and development in organizations and businesses. This chapter proposes a novel approach to the understanding of the identity of Learning specialists and the creation of a fundamental profile describing the range of I-positions and competencies of Learning specialists, according to Dialogical Self Theory (Hermans et al., 1992). A Learning specialist, due to the specifics of the professional performance, has a very complex and multi-level identity. To develop competencies, a Learning specialist has to select the appropriate strategies by flexibly choosing the right I-positions for the task at hand. Such Specialists, in the highest point of professionalism, develop a “meta-position” which helps them to be unique and very productive, due to the high value of Learning specialist’s professional development, business development, creation, and implementation of innovations and economic growth as well.