Grant type: Research
Round: Research grant 2009
Amount awarded £10 000.00
Leader(s): Mrs Ruth Pilkington
Organisation: University of Central Lancashire
Contact Email: rmhpilkington@uclan.ac.uk
Contact phone: 01772 893106
Start Date: 1 September 2009
End Date: 31 August 2011
Interim report received: 21 March 2010
There is to be a project outcomes event on July 5th 2011 at UCLAN for more information see the events page http://escalate.ac.uk/8237
With the launch of the UK Professional Standards Framework (UK PSF) in February 2006 and the ensuing drive for institutions of HE to develop their own continuing professional development frameworks for accreditation against UK PSF the HE sector has joined other education sectors in a requirement for professional entry qualifications for teaching staff along with a need for accredited CPD. This has created a challenge for HE because the UK PSF is not a competency framework and the diversity of HE makes a single unified CPD process both uncomfortable and inappropriate. Formal qualifications linked to masters and professional doctorates are emerging but increasingly questions are being directed at the accreditation of informal ongoing professional development and some institutions are seeking creative ways to achieve this in a way that is relevant and attractive to academic staff with a wide variety of roles embracing research teaching and learning support. E-portfolios are being widely adapted but institutions are also exploring less formal support and measurement mechanisms such as action learning and professional critical dialogue. This project draws together a group of HEIs where dialogue has been introduced for the support and accreditation of professional development. Dialogue is attractive because it encourages peer and reflective approaches to learning and also offers an assessment mechanism that allows probing into process values and assumptions and examination of evidence. By engaging in comparative research into the value and impact of the use of professional dialogue as a tool for assessing and structuring informal professional learning this project will be able to provide a rich qualitative research basis to inform the use of dialogue for professional development across all education sectors and to inform the assessment of experiential practice based learning and CPD more widely
