Monitoring of CPD for your teachers and trainers

For teachers or trainers in the Further Education and Training sector, it is important to remain in good professional standing. How? By keeping up to date with subject specialism and approaches to teaching and learning so that they can continue to develop professionally. This is where the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activities can make the difference and the organisation’s support is of outmost importance: by offering CPD opportunities and guidance to its employees for training activities from which they can benefit. The CPD monitoring process implies in itself the clear sticking to the CPD plan. Such a plan has to be composed of a few steps and address several key points, which guide employees through the whole process of their skills development. 

• Assessing your trainers’ current situation: one needs to define the exact development stage of the employees’ career and evaluate whether any CPD training was conducted ever before
• Identifying trainers’ goals: discuss with your employees what they want to achieve, which subject areas are of interest and aligned with their development as professionals
• Identifying the required resources for achieving these goals: the employer is the one who is able to provide an employee with such resources (upcoming training opportunities and industry conferences). Think of how you can assist your trainers to achieve their goals- time off, financing of CPD activities etc. 
• Develop a timeline: A timeframe is an integral part of a CPD plan – make sure you have realistic timings, though, and don’t get too worked up if you don’t meet your target dates. Try and schedule your timeline around the goals you want to be achieved, especially once you know about the resources you could have on offer.
• Measure progress: As you proceed with the CPD plan for your employees, you’ll want to keep an eye on their progress. Are they meeting the targets? You may need to consider more manageable steps, or adjust the targets – or even set brand new goals. Be sure to take the time to reflect on what you’ve learned as well, in order to identify any further development requirements.

By supporting your staff with finding suitable CPD opportunities, your organisation will benefit, as a skilled teacher workforce will allow your organisation to offer new trainings that correspond to current needs of learners.

Not sure where to start?

Take the IPAL self-assessment and find useful tips to start with your CPD plan