Examples of CPD activities
- peer coaching (coaching others and being coached in your subject or vocational area)
- subject learning coach or advanced learning coach training.
- mentoring new colleagues.
- peer review and observation.
- peer visits to community organisations or partners.
- work shadowing.
- team teaching.
Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves. The law of reflection says that for specular reflection the angle at which the wave is incident on the surface equals the angle at which it is reflected. Mirrors exhibit specular reflection.
These are some of the kinds of activity that your CPD might include.
- Work-based Learning.
- Professional activities. • Learning by doing. • Case studies. • Reflective practice. • Assessment of.
- Formal Education.
- Self-directed learning. • Courses. • Further education. • Research.
- Other. • Public Service. • Voluntary Work.
You must first tell your audience what they are learning and why. Then cover your area of expertise, followed by a summary of the key factors that should emerge from the session. The final phase is to identify how successful the course has been and where it could be improved.
Documentation of CPD evidence must include dates of the CPD activities, a brief description o the outcomes of the activities, and the number of hours spent in each activity. All evidence should be verified.
How to Write a Reflection Paper: Step-by-Step Guide
- Step 1: Create a Main Theme.
- Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas and Experiences You've Had Related to Your Topic.
- Step 3: Analyse How and Why These Ideas and Experiences Have Affected Your Interpretation of Your Theme.
What are the benefits of CPD?
- Increased confidence in abilities.
- Increased credibility.
- Ability to exemplify commitment to growth.
- Increased ability to reach career goals.
- Ability to cope with industry change by constantly updating skill set.
- Chance to fill in gaps in competencies and knowledge.
CPD reflection encourages you to identify links between development activities and their impacts allowing you to modify actions, behaviour, and learning objectives appropriately. Essentially, reflection is about learning from your experiences.
Reflective practice has huge benefits in increasing self-awareness, which is a key component of emotional intelligence, and in developing a better understanding of others. Reflective practice can also help you to develop creative thinking skills, and encourages active engagement in work processes.
James' father became angry and after raising his voice at me, telling me I was a “patronising little foolâ€, he stormed out of the room. James mother sat weeping beside his bed and I felt I had really stuffed things up for this family. I need to get some advice about how to handle angry families.
Gibbs is another common model of reflection that is used within the health professions. Gibbs is clear and precise allowing for description, analysis and evaluation of the experience helping the reflective practitioner to make sense of experiences and examine their practice.
- Acknowledge all practice as a learning opportunity.
- Think about what you do and the meaning of your practice experience regularly.
- Create opportunities to share your practice experiences with others.
- Examine the assumptions behind your practice.
- Compare the theory of your practice to what you actually do.
Self reflection is like looking into a mirror and describing what you see. It is a way of assessing yourself, your ways of working and how you study. To put it simply 'reflection' means to think about something.
The core elements of academic reflective writing
- develop a perspective or line of reasoning.
- develop a link between your experience or practice and existing knowledge (theoretical or personal)
- show understanding and appreciation of different perspectives to your own.
The Kolb experiential learning cycle
The four stages of the cycle are: Concrete experience (being open to, aware of, and valuing experience). Sensing and feeling leads to 'Reflection'. Reflection (making use of and investigating experience, use of feelings/intuition, ideas and options).Certificates from officially verified CPD courses are more credible to both employers and businesses as the learning value has been scrutinised to ensure both integrity and quality.
Continuing Professional Development is not a single course, or a body of learning. It is a system of logging that you are keeping skills and knowledge up to date. You may also develop your own personal professional's career CPD plan but this is not a qualification.
CPD gives you more knowledge and skills related to your job. It also means your employer can have confidence in your ability to complete your role effectively. It means that you've completed an accredited CPD training course and you're competent in the topic you're certified in.
CPD ExplainedCPD stands for Continuing Professional Development and is the term used to describe the learning activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their abilities. Accompanied by such growth is the acceptance that academic qualifications must offer more vocational and skills-based learning.
Seven common barriers to effective whole-school CPD
- Too many one-off activities.
- Too much listening/not enough time to collaboratively problem-solve.
- Not enough time for professional learning.
- Lack of high-quality external facilitation and expertise.
- Not relevant or differentiated.
- No clear focus on pupils.
CPD has been shown to increase teacher motivation, confidence and commitment to teaching. Learning new skills and applying them in the classroom can lead to a more stimulating and effective teaching environment.
