Scribd
Upload
488 views11 pages

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is an ongoing process of maintaining and enhancing professional skills throughout one's career. It involves identifying skill gaps, planning learning activities to address them, undertaking those activities, reflecting on learning, and applying it. CPD helps professionals stay up to date and broaden their skills, enhancing employability. The key steps in CPD are identifying needs, planning objectives and activities, carrying out learning, reflecting on learning, and applying it to practice.

Uploaded by

Bigraj Sunuwar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
488 views11 pages

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is an ongoing process of maintaining and enhancing professional skills throughout one's career. It involves identifying skill gaps, planning learning activities to address them, undertaking those activities, reflecting on learning, and applying it. CPD helps professionals stay up to date and broaden their skills, enhancing employability. The key steps in CPD are identifying needs, planning objectives and activities, carrying out learning, reflecting on learning, and applying it to practice.

Uploaded by

Bigraj Sunuwar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

What is Continuing Professional


Development?

 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the process of developing, maintaining


and documenting your professional skills.
 Also referred to as Continuing Education – may be defined as the development of
knowledge and of technical, personal, professional, business and management skills and
competencies throughout a person’s working life.
 A continuing process of setting objectives and making progress that help to review and
reflect the achievement.
What is it for?

• Continuing professional development is important because it


ensures you continue to be competent in your profession. It is an
ongoing process and continues throughout a professional’s career.
• The CPD process helps you manage your own development on an
ongoing basis.
• It's function is to help you record, review and reflect on what you
learn. 
What will it do for you?

Undertaking CPD is a clear indicator of professionalism, and getting it right can


enhance your employability. By keeping up to date and broadening your skills
and understanding, it will:
• Provide an overview of your professional development to date
• Remind you of your achievements and how far you’ve progressed
• Direct your career and help you keep your eye on your goals
• Uncover gaps in your skills and capabilities
• Open up further development needs
• Provide examples and scenarios for a CV or interview
• Demonstrate your professional standing to clients and employers
• Help you with your career development or a possible career change.
Continuing Professional Development Cycle

• The process of CPD is designed to help you


identify and act on your own development needs.
• The Continuous Professional Development Cycle
moves from identifying your development needs
through planning and then carrying out your
learning activities, to reflecting on your learning,
and then applying it.
• Each individual is expected to identify their own
needs, organise their own training, and learn for
themselves. Part of being a professional is taking
responsibility for your own skills and recognising
when they need to improve.
Identifying Your Needs

• The first of the CPD cycle step relates to the process of identifying
your skills and knowledge gaps. Complete a simple self-assessment
or needs analysis to help you identify current weaknesses and any
future areas you can develop that will improve your professional
skills and knowledge. This will assist you establishing a general
overview of your learning objectives for the year.
• Once you have identified your key areas for development, you
then need to plan your activities.
Planning

• The next steps are to create a set of specific objectives that help
you breakdown and decide which activities and subjects would
support your overall development objectives.
Act

• The next steps in the CPD Cycle is to attend various learning


activities, such as training, educational events, online courses that
help you achieve the learning objectives outlined in your needs
analysis. Remain focused on training and events that will improve
upon your professional development weak areas and cater for the
knowledge gaps you have previously identified.
Reflecting on Your Learning

• Reflecting on what you have learned is a vital part of continuing


professional development. Once any training courses have been
completed, it is important to reflect upon the success of the activity.
The reflection stage should help to highlight “What did I learn? How
has my knowledge increased? What skills have I learnt? What can I
put into practice? How can I make a positive improvement to my
existing work activities?” Reflection like this after completing any
CPD activity makes it simple to apply a practical solution-based
process to ensuring your professional development is successful.
Applying Your Learning

• Going on training courses or learning through informal sources


such as watching videos is only the start. You then have to apply
your new knowledge and skills to your existing workplace,
completing the full process of the CPD Cycle.
You should keep a folder or portfolio of all your development activities, drawing on
your learning diary. The aim of this is to be able to show how your skills and
knowledge have developed over a period.
You should therefore:
Keep a note of your development needs and goals, and make a regular (quarterly,
six-monthly or annual) assessment of your progress against them.
Record any training courses attended, with a copy of any certificates or
qualifications obtained. Keep a record of the date, provider, aims of the training,
and your thoughts on what you learned from it.
How do I start? Planning Your CPD

Develop a Professional Development Plan that will assist you to meet your learning needs and
career goals. Once you have developed your plan, it will guide your selection of continuing
professional development, and will enable you to prioritise what CPD to engage in.
The process of developing your PDP involves reflecting on, and considering:
• Where you are now in your career, and where you want to be (your career goals)? What
your short and long term goals are?
• What areas of practice you would like to strengthen? What do I have to do to get there?
• What ongoing learning you will need in order to meet your goals?
• What resources and time will be required?
• When should I review progress?: This step is essential! You’ll need to set a date in advance
for review of the objectives you’ve set yourself. You can either do this from one review to
the next or decide to review regularly – once every three, six or 12 months. Put it in your
diary and do it! The cycle of continuing professional development has begun.

You might also like