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Continuing professional development (CPD) is increasingly seen as an essential driver in raising the standards of teaching and learning in post-16 education and training. Requirements and processes have been set in place by Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) and the Institute for Learning (IfL) to ensure that every teacher engages in CPD - but is it getting the strategic attention it deserves in every organisation? This paper aims to provoke discussion on the issues, question some current shibboleths, identify potential approaches and explore how to make the most out of the new CPD entitlement. It also aims to encourage professional educators to begin to apply their expertise about good teaching and learning to their own thinking on CPD.

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Most Australian universities recognise the need to improve teaching and learning within their institutions through professional development programs for academic staff. Some make a Foundations Course of teaching and learning a requirement for probation for all new staff, whilst others require a full Graduate Certificate Course in teaching and learning to be completed by new academic staff. These programs, and the requirement for staff to complete them, are an important recognition of the need to value and improve teaching in tertiary education, and are generally valued by the academic staff as a means to achieving improved learning outcomes in their student cohorts. The problems arise however, when there are small numbers of enrolments and courses become unviable. The vision of the [Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education] GCTE project group was to devise a means of delivering the best possible Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education for new academic staff, creating viable cohorts, and increasing the number of students in each aspect of the program, through a collaborative GCTE offering across five universities. This aimed to create a vibrant cross-institutional community where the course was shared, and efficiencies made the course viable.

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The purpose of this research was to review an aspect of the evaluation process by sharing the responses of a recent client survey from almost 7000 stakeholders of the Arkansas' education service cooperative. The objectives of this study were to determine the degree of use and level of client satisfaction of professional development programs offered by this entity. The study also sought to identify suggestions for improving or expanding services and it contrasts the limitations of an audit by survey versus an extensive evaluation. Results from a mixed methodology approach indicated moderate to high levels of satisfaction in two program areas and moderate to high levels of dissatisfaction in a third program area. Responses to quasi-statistical content analysis revealed specific rationale concerning dissatisfaction in technology support and four professional development areas.

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In this paper I argue that a voluntary certification system for highly accomplished teachers must be part of a coherent system of professional accountability which is developed, implemented and managed by the profession. This would be a system that engages professional judgement of evidence provided by teachers in relation to their professional knowledge and practice, and professional standards for teaching would provide the organising framework for that judgment. It would be a system incorporating and aligning all forms of professional licensure, including entry into the profession and subsequent professional milestones. It would be a system that all partners in the profession across Australia - employers, professional associations, and registration authorities - endorse, participate in and align with. The profession can take the lead in developing and implementing such a coherent and coordinated national approach by carefully developing a system to recognise and reward highly accomplished teaching. Such a system should aim to recognise and build teacher quality by defining what it is highly accomplished teachers know and are able to do. Moreover, such a system must find ways of making teaching public and acknowledging teaching as intellectual work which involves professional judgment that draws on a recognised professional knowledge base and contextualised knowledge about students and their learning. The paper is presented in two main sections. First, a proposed conceptual framework for the professional recognition and certification of highly accomplished teachers is outlined. Then, the argument for this proposed conceptual framework is presented drawing on learnings from relevant research and professional activity in both Australia and the USA.

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This study sought to explore the potential of implementing online professional training development (OPTD) for faculty in the College of Education at King Saud University (KSU) and the barriers that prevent faculty members from participating in OPTD. A descriptive study was used to accomplish the objectives of the study. Data were collected through a web-based survey from 43 faculty members at the College of Education at KSU.

The findings revealed that the respondents are skilled in terms of using the computer and exploring the internet (M=4.30, SD=0.724); they have positive attitudes toward online learning (M=4.32, SD=0.66); and they perceived support from administrators in implementing OPTD (M=3.59, SD=1.06). The study also found that the most important barrier that prevents the responding faculty members from [becoming involved] in OPTD was their workload and lack of time. This study concluded that they are willing to participate in OPTD with a reduction in their workload and an increase in release time.

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This paper reports on an exploration into the professional practice of a lecturer using the appreciative inquiry (AI) approach. This facilitated inquiry intentionally sought to apply the AI approach to the practice of an individual, an application that is different to its predominant usage with groups. The context for this research was the professional practice of a lecturer within an innovative narrative curriculum for midwifery. Evidence was gathered through the re-telling of moments of peak performance. The AI process starts from actual practice and returns to the implications for practice. In the process, the inquiry explores questions such as, when am I at my 'best' as a lecturer? What patterns and themes exist across the stories of peak performance? How can my future practice be influenced by these themes. An important aspect of this research was the facilitation of the process which supported the movement of the research process and the critical reflection that is integral to such an inquiry. Such facilitation is particularly critical to the development of provocative propositions and an action plan for future practice. The experience and findings of this research suggest that the AI approach is well suited to a holistic consideration of an individual's professional practice.

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The term 'success' in higher education has been used widely to describe multiple outcomes, practices, and variables. In doctoral education, in particular, the study of success is paramount as only 50 per cent of those students who enter doctoral education actually complete the degree. The definition of success, however, remains elusive. This study explored the concept of success in doctoral education as expressed by faculty advisors in seven different disciplines. Findings highlighted differences between disciplinary cultures and between departments with high and low completion rates. Implications for policy, practice, and research are included.

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Professionals' learning and motivation is regarded as social, situated and constructed. For successful implementation of new professional learning, consideration of both person and context is needed. Individual motivational beliefs regarding activities are, for example, inseparable from and mutually shaped by the social context in which these activities are situated. This paper reports a mixed methods study examining the relevance, effectiveness and implementation of a professional learning program, as perceived by 68 Australian educators. Participants reported enhanced personal development and valued the course, but workplace demands and limited structured support were constraints on implementation. Methodological issues associated with research in authentic professional learning settings are discussed. The study confirms the significance of exploring personal and contextual factors to gain a holistic understanding of professional learning initiatives, and to maximise their actual implementation in practice.

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[This research examines how] Canadian Schools of Social Work improve school climate in order to enhance outcomes and success among Aboriginal students and faculty. [The author] interviewed 14 Aboriginal faculty members from seven Schools of Social Work about their experiences as students and as faculty, and [their] recommendations regarding needed changes. As learners, respondents were affected by individual, academic and relational factors, as well as teacher behaviours. As faculty, the respondents’ approaches to teaching were influenced by ‘who the students are’, their beliefs about learning, and their perceptions of their responsibilities as educators.

Recommendations to educators include having knowledge, personal characteristics, and teaching strategies. Recommendations to Schools of Social Work include strategies aimed at supporting Aboriginal students and educators. Institutional changes must include attention to overcoming the colonial dynamics which underscore academic life. In order to create healthy environments, respondents recommended providing: a welcoming and safe place; reflections of Aboriginal people; healthy boundaries and leadership; physical, cognitive, and emotional space, as well as space for ceremony and community; and support for self-determination.

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The recruitment, training and work of vocational teachers are core topics of research in vocational and business education and training. In view of the last volume of literature on this subject matter, it is all the more astonishing that until today there is neither a requirements or competency profile that is sufficiently well substantiated by theory and is supported on a basis of empirical investigations or a 'job description' for vocational teachers, nor have any comprehensive (empirical) audits of the position been carried out with regards to quality and the effects of the learning processes initiated by vocational teachers. A German bibliography with 476 entries from the years 1970-2000 that was compiled within the framework of a recently completed research project on 'Concepts [sic!] of Vocational School Teacher Training' (Buchmann/Kell 2001) compares with 11 empirical investigations: since the academisation of the training of teachers at trade schools, the greater part of the empirical studies on vocational teachers that have appeared deal mainly with the retrospective assessment of the first phase of teacher training on the part of graduated teachers.

Excerpt from publication.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/IRD 88.423. Show less