4 Responses

1. Oh dear

   Hmmmm this is for me a very fundamental and important issue.

   I don’t want to get all intellectual and predantic, but…any CPD should be about what people have learned, so at the very least at an event it’s about newly acquired knowledge that someone intends to do something about.

   It niggles when I get people come up to me at the end of an event I ran wanting me to sign off their CPD sheets, files whatever, and when I ask what they learned they look at me blank. This is as good as saying to me ‘well I stayed warm, breathed in and out, what more do you want?’.

   Thus, ‘points make prizes’ CPD schemes that reward sitting on a chair with no thought for learning or especially its use disappoint me, and have done for more than 20 years.

   So, my advice is at the very least, issue a ‘learning points sheet’ to all, and let them know that even a few words in the boxes (my standard version for branch events of various professional bodies has seven boxes on a page) will be enough for a valid CPD approved attendance.

   I am a bit of a CPD extremist with four lever arch files of hand written learning logs – over a million words on 1265 A4 sheets, so I do feel a little effort to prove an intent to use learning is not an unreasonable expectation.

   Pre approved CPD worthy events are plain daft.

   I would be very happy to discuss offline.

   Andrew Gibbons

   http://www.andrewgibbons.co.uk

    

2. certification of CPD

   Perhaps the CPD Certification Service would be able to help… http://www.cpduk.co.uk/ 

3. I do hope we don’t move towards pre-approved CPD events

   More contributions on this would be very welcome as many millions of us are covered by our professional bodies’ CPD codes and expectations.

   I am very very dubious about the pre-approval of CPD worthiness as this is too often no more than attendance certification not a measure of acquired learning or more impotantly its application.

   More thoughts?

   Andrew Gibbons

4. CPD

    

   Hi, I tend to agree with Andrew and have a running log (on word) of insights and learning points which may not be too helpful to others but is really worthwhile for me as it provides the reflecting/ conclusion phase of learning which for me is not so natural. Using this sort of information has helped me to apply the new things I learn more quickly and more effectively. 

   I feel there is also room for the more traditional Continuous Professional Development. I am still a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and they run workshops each month wherever there are enough members. These sessions are specific, relevant and provide the latest ideas and thoughts about what is happening in the world of Insurance. They offer CPD points at each qualifying event as the CII has a scheme which requires a minimum number of points each year.

   I guess some people may turn up, not really listen, get the points and go but most participate. The CII also recognises a wide range of personal learning such as reading and taking part in committees and they require the learning points from these events to be written up in a log.

   I am sure there are awful CPD schemes with excellent members who manage their own learning well and some excellent schemes with members who turn up and switch off?

    

   Cheers, Nick