Professional development refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. Professional development encompasses all types of facilitated learning opportunities, ranging from college degrees to formal coursework, conferences and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensive and collaborative, ideally incorporating an evaluative stage [1] There are a variety of approaches to professional development, including consultation, coaching, communities of practice, lesson study, mentoring, reflective supervision and technical assistance.[2]
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Who participates and why
A wide variety of people, such as teachers, military officers and non-commissioned officers, health care professionals, lawyers, accountants and engineers engage in professional development. Individuals may participate in professional development because of an interest in lifelong learning, a sense of moral obligation, to maintain and improve professional competence, enhance career progression, keep abreast of new technology and practice, or to comply with professional regulatory organizations. [3] [4] [5] Many American states have professional development requirements for school teachers. For example, Arkansas teachers must complete 60 hours of documented professional development activities annually. [6] Professional development credits are named differently from state to state. For example, teachers: in Indiana are required to earn 90 Continuing Renewal Units (CRUs) per year [7]; in Massachusetts, need 150 Professional Development Points (PDPs) [8]; and in Georgia, must earn 10 Professional Learning Units (PLUs) [9]. American and Canadian nurses, as well as those in the United Kingdom, are required to participate in formal and informal professional development (earning Continuing education units A Continuing Education Unit is a measure used in continuing education programs, particularly those required in a licensed profession in order for the professional to maintain the license. Examples of people who need CEUs include architects, engineers, educators, nurses, mental health professionals, and social workers. Generally, a CEU is defined, or CEUs) in order to maintain professional registration. [10] [11][12] Other groups such as engineering and geoscience regulatory bodies also have mandatory professional development requirements.[5]
Approaches to professional development
In a broad sense, professional development may include formal types of vocational education, typically post-secondary or poly-technical training leading to qualification or credential required to obtain or retain employment. Professional development may also come in the form of pre-service or in-service professional development programs. These programs may be formal, or informal, group or individualized. Individuals may pursue professional development independently, or programs may be offered by human resource departments. Professional development on the job may develop or enhance process skills, sometimes referred to as leadership skills, as well as task skills. Some examples for process skills are 'effectiveness skills', 'team functioning skills', and 'systems thinking skills'.
Professional development opportunities can range from a single workshop to a semester-long academic course, to services offered by a medley of different professional development providers and varying widely with respect to the philosophy, content, and format of the learning experiences. Some examples of approaches to professional development include:[13]
- Case Study Method - The case method is a teaching approach that consists in presenting the students with a case, putting them in the role of a decision maker facing a problem (Hammond 1976) - see also Case method The case method is a teaching approach that consists in presenting the students with a case, putting them in the role of a decision maker facing a problem.
- Consultation - to assist an individual or group of individuals to clarify and address immediate concerns by following a systematic problem-solving process.
- Coaching - to enhance a person’s competencies in a specific skill area by providing a process of observation, reflection, and action.
- Communities of Practice - to improve professional practice by engaging in shared inquiry and learning with people who have a common goal
- Lesson Study - to solve practical dilemmas related to intervention or instruction through participation with other professionals in systematically examining practice
- Mentoring - to promote an individual’s awareness and refinement of his or her own professional development by providing and recommending structured opportunities for reflection and observation
- Reflective Supervision - to support, develop, and ultimately evaluate the performance of employees through a process of inquiry that encourages their understanding and articulation of the rationale for their own practices
- Technical Assistance - to assist individuals and their organization to improve by offering resources and information, supporting networking and change efforts
Professional development is a broad term, encompassing a range of people, interests and approaches. Those who engage in professional development share a common purpose of enhancing their ability to do their work. At the heart of professional development is the individual's interest in lifelong learning and increasing their own skills and knowledge. The 21st century has seen a significant growth in online professional development. [14] Content providers incorporate collaborative platforms such as discussion boards and wikis, thereby encouraging and facilitating interaction, and optimizing training effectiveness. [15] [16] [17] [18]
See also
- Apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships. Most of their training is done on the job while working for an employer who helps the apprentices learn their trade, in exchange for their continuing labour for an agreed period after they become
- Career Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as an individual's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work (and sometimes also formal education)
- Continuing Professional Development Continuing Professional Development or Continuing Professional Education (CPE) is the means by which members of professional associations maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge and skills and develop the personal qualities required in their professional lives
- Core competency A core competency can take various forms, including technical/subject matter know-how, a reliable process and/or close relationships with customers and suppliers. It may also include product development or culture, such as employee dedication
- Initial Professional Development
- Induction training
- Licensure Licensure refers to the granting of a license, which gives a 'permission to practice.' Such licenses are usually issued in order to regulate some activity that is deemed to be dangerous or a threat to the person or the public or which involves a high level of specialized skill. The danger and skill elements inspire governments not to allow a free-
- Mentor In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcumus and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and of his palace. When Athena visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus' mother Penelope. As Mentor, the
- Organizational Dissent Organizational dissent is the “expression of disagreement or contradictory opinions about organizational practices and policies” . Since dissent involves disagreement it can lead to conflict, which if not resolved, can lead to violence and struggle. As a result, many organizations send the message – verbally or nonverbally – that dissent
- Profession A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain
- Training and development In the field of human resource management, training and development is the field concerned with organizational activity aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in organizational settings. It has been known by several names, including employee development, human resource development, and learning and development
- Vocational education Vocational education or Vocational Education and Training , also called Career and Technical Education (CTE), prepares learners for jobs that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation, hence the term, in which the learner participates. It is sometimes
References
- ^ Speck, M. & Knipe, C. (2005) Why can't we get it right? Designing high-quality professional development for standards-based schools(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press
- ^ National Professional Development Center on Inclusion. (2008). "What do we mean by professional development in the early childhood field?". Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute, Author.
- ^ Golding, L. & Gray, I. (2006).Continuing professional development for clinical psychologists:A practical handbook. The British Psychological Society. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
- ^ Jasper, M. (2006).Professional development, reflection, and decision-making. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
- ^ a b http://www.apegga.org/members/ProfDev/toc_map.html
- ^ http://www.arkansased.org/teachers/prof_dev_renewal.html
- ^ http://www.kdsi.org/IN
- ^ http://www.kdsi.org/MA
- ^ http://www.kdsi.org/GA
- ^ http://www.crnm.mb.ca/competence.php
- ^ http://www.ndbon.org/education/continuing%20education/continuing%20education.shtml
- ^ http://www.nmc-uk.org/
- ^ National Professional Development Center on Inclusion. (2008). "What do we mean by professional development in the early childhood field?". Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute, Author.
- ^ http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2009-Horizon-Report-K12.pdf
- ^ http://www.classroom20.com
- ^ http://www.curriki.org
- ^ http://kdsi.org/Dynamic-E-Learning.aspx
- ^ http://www.sreb.org/programs/edtech/pubs/pdf/04T04-Standards_Online_Prof_Dev.pdf
Categories: Management Categories: Business | Business economics | Applied sciences | Accountability | Organizational studies and human resource management Categories: Organizations | Management | Social psychology | Personal development | Vocational education
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Indianapolis Star Human Resource Professional Development Association (HRPDA), 7:30 to 9 am Strategy Studio, 9100 Keystone Crossing Suite 100-A. Group meets the second ...
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The Holbeck Urban Village project is proud to present this unique day at the Round Foundry Media Centre. It will consist of three seminars on . professional. ethics and ethical issues in business in the 21st Century.
Q. What are some creative ways a small business can foster professional development with a small budget?
Asked by unknown - Tue Aug 11 18:32:36 2009 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments
A. For help with this, I turned to my friend Alicia Mandel, who has run learning and leadership groups for companies including American Express as well as for the United States Olympic Committee. (She and I met at the USOC, when I was part of a team that helped Alicia think through a new leadership academy, Olympic University.) Alicia is about to become the vice president of organization development at Apollo Group, the parent company of the University of Phoenix. Alicia s advice: Professional development rarely happens in a classroom. In fact, studies show that only between 10-15% of professional development is successful in the classroom. It really happens through application of learning. Here are some ideas: -- Find other small… [cont.]
Answered by Kevin Salwen, Small Business - Thu Aug 13 00:10:36 2009
