The use of stories from professional experience in continuing professional education has been on the rise in many fields, often aimed at bolstering capacity through sharing professional knowledge and/or supporting reflective practice. Practice stories are also suggested to be beneficial in supporting professional learning of new concepts. These…

This paper discusses the contribution that practice-research networks can make to support critical professional development in the Learning and Skills sector in England. By practice-research networks we mean groups or networks which maintain a connection between research and professional practice. These networks stem from the philosophy of…

Many professions have requirements for professional development activities to ensure continuing registration or membership. These commonly focus on participation in a limited range of activities. This paper questions the assumptions behind such approaches and what alternatives might be considered. It explores the suitability of metaphors used for…

In professional education today, Schon's concept of "reflective practice" underpins much thinking about learning at work. This approach--with its emphasis on the inner life of the professional and on her own interpretations of her learning experiences--is increasingly being challenged: often cited objections are that the model ignores factors like…

The field of educational development has a 40-year history of providing continuing education or professional development for academic staff, particularly focusing on improving teaching and learning. However, little has yet been written on the historical origins and development of this field, apart from content analyses of some key journals and…

Storytellers have always known that there is more to a story than "just a good yarn". It is through stories that individuals construct and reconstruct their sense of self as they learn "to be" in the world. Learning through stories is common across a number of professional contexts. However, storied approaches are under-utilised in supervisor…

Drawing on studies of teachers, accountants and pharmacists conducted in Canada, this essay examines models for assessing professional learning that currently enjoy widespread use in continuing education. These models include professional growth plans, self-administered tests and learning logs, and they are often used for regulatory as well as…

The contemporary political and economic context has ensured that adults continually return to education in order to avoid both social and economic marginalization. Adults make and remake themselves through a process of self-authoring a reflexive process through which they make contextual decisions about their life. This article examines the…

Consideration of the qualities of good teaching leads to a new model that emphasizes the importance of sense making to professional development. A strong core of qualities that assist teachers in using sense making includes strength, confidence, balance, ballast, and value maturity. (Contains 27 references.) (SK)

A study of college faculty, academic managers, and general staff in two Australian universities showed how these different "tribes" view flexible learning differently. Teachers work under rules of professionalization, managers under administrative rules. The view of flexible learning as a panacea or problem entrenches these differences. (SK)

Professional roles are being transformed by technology and changing organizational structures. Continuing professional education may play a role in deskilling. There is increasing distance between the concept of contemporary academics and the idea of the intellectual. (SK)

In Australia, continuing professional education policy and provision are not integrated in relation to professional education, other education sectors, cross-professional contact, or purpose. Debates about mandatory continuing education and competence have exacerbated the lack of integration. Closer ties with professional education could improve…

Discusses mandatory continuing professional education (MCPE) in Australia for the legal and accountancy professions. Considers whether the main concern is continuing education or the certification by professional bodies of their members as competent to practice. Concludes that program designers should recognize that there are educational as well…

Professions take different approaches to competency-based continuing education: (1) pharmacy and nursing analyze competence in terms of roles and tasks (performance); (2) law analyzes professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes (attributes); and (3) medicine analyzes attributes in the context of performance of professional tasks, an integrated…

Reviews of the disciplines of law, medicine, engineering, and math/science teaching in Australia examined five issues concerning continuing professional education: (1) importance; (2) purpose; (3) relationship to preservice training; (4) mandatory/voluntary options; and (5) delivery. (SK)