In community work, as with many professions, CPD is a formally recognised mechanism to foster high standards of professional conduct and practice, supporting CWK practitioners to continuously develop and enhance their knowledge, skills and abilities, ensuring they remain responsive to new and emerging issues.
CPD can involve a wide range of learning opportunities from attending a training programme, seminar or workshop, or participating in a conference, to undertaking a work placement or a structured writing initiative such as researching and preparing a blog.
The Benefits of Quality Assured CPD
The provision of quality assured CPD supports high standards of community work resulting in improved outcomes for all. This brings many benefits as:
- Communities will be supported by skilled and knowledgeable practitioners.
- Practitioners will enhance their skills, knowledge and capacity and be in a better position to meet the challenges presented to them in the work.
- Employers will have staff with increased knowledge, skills and competence as practitioners, able to undertake their work in an ever-evolving context.
- Funders will see the social value benefit of investing in community work maximised with improved outcomes from the work.
- The community work discipline will grow and strengthen through a coherent framework for learning and development, and shared understanding of the community work sector.
AIEB’s CPD Quality Assurance Process
CPD can involve a wide range of learning opportunities from attending a training programme, seminar or workshop, or participating in a conference, to undertaking a work placement or a structured writing initiative such as researching and preparing a blog.
AIEB’s CPD Quality Assurance Process CPD helps employers, training providers and other providers of initiatives and activities appropriate for CPD purposes to formalise these around a simple, yet structured and recognised approach that supports learning and development and strengthens community work practice.
The quality assurance process involves providers completing and submitting a short application, which is assessed by AIEB in relation to an agreed set of criteria. Providers whose initiatives recognised by AIEB as meeting the criteria will be able to use the AIEB logo to support promotion of their event/initiative or opportunity. AIEB will also promote quality assured CPD initiatives on the AIEB website.
To find out more about AIEB’s CPD Quality Assurance Process, please contact us by emailing ciara.shanahan@aieb.ie to arrange an initial conversation.
To submit an initiative for CPD Quality Assurance, please download and complete the AIEB Quality Assurance form addressing the criteria as detailed below. The form can be downloaded as a PDF document here AIEB QA form or as a Word document here AIEB QA form final.
CPD Quality Assurance Criteria
Full details of the quality assurance criteria are outlined in the application form, which include:
- Appropriate aims and earning outcomes referenced to the the All-Ireland Standards for Community Work
- Appropriate professional expertise of trainers/providers
- Quality content relevant to community work practice
- Appropriate and engaging learning and development tools and methods
- Minimum time allocation of 3 hours.
What can be Quality Assured for CPD purposes?
CPD can involve a wide range of learning opportunities which can involve planned professional initiatives and also include elements of self-directed learning identified to address specific learning needs. Some examples of planned CPD provision that AIEB can quality assure for CPD purposes include:
- Training courses from short informal training through to longer accredited training
- Professional/postgraduate qualifications
- Relevant workplace training
- Seminars, workshops, thematic events or conferences
- Delivering presentations at seminars of conferences
- Work mentoring programmes
- Facilitated peer learning groups
- Work secondments
- Structured reflective practice
- Supervised writing for publication
- Approved voluntary activity
Find out more
To find out more about AIEB Badging for CPD, please contact us by emailing enquiries@aieb.ie to arrange an initial conversation.
