Continuing Professional Development Providers Research Articles

National-authority-endorsed privatisation of teachers’ continuing professional development in Sweden

ABSTRACT This article reveals national-authority-endorsed privatisation of teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) in the wake of a shift towards more centralised national interventions in Swedish schools. Drawing on data from the Collaboration for Best School (CBS) initiative, the context of the article is a recent state programme that encourages underperforming schools to collaborate with the Swedish National Agency for Education (SNAE) to raise students’ achievement standards and thereby increase equality within and between schools. Guided by meta-governance theory, our analysis revealed that SNAE operates as a meta-governor on behalf of the state to replace university researchers as CPD providers with specific private-sector actors. The results provide evidence of SNAE-enabled substitution processes through three network governance strategies: 1) hidden and authorised substitution, 2) trust building and hybrid participation, and 3) collective reproduction and solutionism. Taken together, these governance strategies reflect national-authority-endorsed privatisation in action, suggesting that SNAE primarily operates as an ideology-driven conduit for private economic interests. The article concludes with a call for new collaborative and autonomous implementation strategies for teachers’ CPD that can further the interests of the teaching profession.

Stakeholder views on continuing professional development for doctors working in public primary care facilities in central Uganda: a qualitative study.

the primary care workforce in the public sector of Uganda is under the district health system. The doctors in this workforce provide leadership and frontline promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care. Their numbers are still low and therefore need effective support through continuing professional development (CPD). Part of the support is influenced by stakeholders whose views on CPD in the district health system are important. This study therefore explored the stakeholders' views on the CPD of doctors working in the district health system in central Uganda. a qualitative exploratory study was done, and data was collected using an interview guide through in-depth interviews among ten purposively selected CPD stakeholders influencing different aspects of CPD activities of doctors working in public general hospitals and health center IVs. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and manually analyzed using deductive thematic analysis. five themes were categorized into; CPD practices, facilitators, benefits, challenges, and suggestions. Each of the themes had subthemes; CPD practices; training, mentorship and apprenticeship, support supervision, and quality improvement projects. Facilitators; internet services, grants, health facility managers, facility-based CPD providers, and regional CPD guidelines. Benefits; motivation, knowledge, teamwork, and renewal of practicing licenses. Challenges; workload, allowances, access, documentation, mindset, quality, structure of public health system, and sustainability. Suggestions; training needs analysis, collaboration, monitoring, e-CPD platforms, CPD resource centers, and individual CPD responsibility. the stakeholders' views are an indication that effective CPD is a collaborative effort from both the primary care doctors and those in the leadership of the health care system.

National Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training needs of pharmacists in Ethiopia

BackgroundContinuing Professional Development (CPD) in pharmacy is a lifelong learning approach whereby individual pharmacists are responsible for updating and broadening their knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This is vital to ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care services. However, there is a lack of available data revealing the CPD needs of Ethiopian pharmacists. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify CPD training needs of pharmacists practicing in Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study design with a quantitative approach was employed in this study. This assessment involved 640 pharmacists representing various sectors of the profession. Data were collected through a combination of an online platform and a face-to-face questionnaire administered in person.ResultA total of 634 participants completed and returned the questionnaires, resulting in an impressive response rate of 99.1%. A significant majority (74.1%) of the participants possessed bachelor’s degree in pharmacy (B. Pharm). Pharmaceutical Logistics and Pharmacy administration was preferentially selected as a prior CPD course by 36% of participants, of them while Pharmacotherapy (17%), Leadership/Governance (13%), Community Pharmacy (12%), Research and Development (11%) were also the subsequent top choices by participants. Off-site face-to-face lectures (59.2%), Hybrid (face-to-face + e-learning) (54.8%), and on-site on-the-job training (45.5%) were the most convenient means of CPD course delivery. On the other hand, the participants least favored print-based or correspondence programs for CPD course delivery.ConclusionsCPD holds great importance in the professional lives of pharmacists. It is critical for pharmacists, CPD providers, and those responsible for accrediting CPD programs to recognize the specific CPD requirements, preferred methods of delivery, and obstacles involved. This understanding is vital for establishing priorities and effectively planning CPD activities. In light of this, our study identified the most preferred CPD training courses and convenient delivery methods for pharmacists in Ethiopia. We recommend that CPD providers and accrediting bodies in Ethiopia refer to our findings when approving CPD courses.

Continuing professional development training needs for primary care doctors in central Uganda.

Continuing professional development (CPD) activities relevant to medical doctors and their patients should be informed by current assessed training needs. The CPD provision is expected to improve the quality of professional practice and ethics. However, the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners' Council still receives about 40 reports of malpractice every month. The study aimed to describe the CPD training needs of doctors working in public primary care facilities in central Uganda. The district health system of central Uganda comprised 10 General Hospitals (GH) and 37 Health Center IVs (HC IVs) with a staffing norm of six and two doctors, respectively. This was a cross-sectional survey of 100 doctors working in public primary care facilities using the World Health Organization (WHO) Hennessy-Hicks questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of the importance, current performance, and training need of each skilled activity were calculated. Content analysis was applied to data from the open-ended questions. The response rate was 91%, majority were males, 80 (87.9%) from 7 GHs and 24 HC IVs with an average age of 37.9 years. The domain with the highest CPD training need for the doctors was research and audit, with a mean score (standard deviation [s.d.]) of 1.94 (±1.69), followed by administration 1.58 (±1.61) and clinical tasks 1.28 (±1.29). The clinical tasks domain had the most suggested CPD topics. Research and audit and clinical tasks were identified as important domains for CPD training for doctors in this setting.Contribution: The results give insight into CPD training needs of primary care doctors and guide various CPD providers.

A qualitative examination and emerging theorization of Jamaican nursery practitioners’ self-identified professional development needs

ABSTRACT In Jamaica, the majority of practitioners working with infants and toddlers are largely untrained. While continuing professional development (CPD) provides practitioners with the skills to meet children’s needs, the provision of CPD also serves as the means by which nursery practitioners upgrade their competencies. This study presents the findings of a series of focus group discussions and workshop evaluations with 71 nursery workers to elicit their professional development needs. Thematic analysis revealed three dominant themes (planning for children, managing throughout the day and the curriculum). These findings enable an emerging theorization of caregivers’ CPD needs. This includes context-guided pedagogy, relevant and transferable to everyday life, and socially considerate professional development. Implications of the findings suggest greater support for nursery workers. Caregivers need to be involved in the planning of CPD. Additionally, the theorization enables a greater understanding of how caregivers learn and the factors which support their professional growth.

Australian medical radiation practitioners perspectives of continuing professional development: An online cross-sectional study.

Continuing professional development (CPD) is mandatory for registered Australian medical radiation practitioners (MRPs) to maintain competence in their respective scopes of practice. The aim of this study was to explore MRPs attitudes, opinions and satisfaction towards CPD activities offered by the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT). An online cross-sectional survey was emailed to 6398 ASMIRT members and included questions on: demographics, ASMIRT CPD activities, learning mode preferences, barriers and perceptions of CPD outcomes. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. The survey was completed by 1018 MRPs. While MRPs were satisfied with face-to-face CPD quality (n = 540, 58.1%) and provision (n = 492, 55.3%), they were dissatisfied with the quantity of online CPD activities (n = 577, 65.1%) delivered by ASMIRT. Online learning was the most preferred mode of CPD delivery (n = 749, 74.2%), followed by face-to-face (n = 643, 64.0%) and collaborative learning (n = 539, 53.4%). Younger participants (19-35 years) had positive opinions regarding ASMIRT CPD activities and outcomes. Access to professional development leave (PDL) supported achievement of mandatory CPD requirements (P < 0.001). Lack of time, lack of access and workload were the highest ranked barriers preventing CPD participation. Rural/remote MRPs were dissatisfied with availability (P = 0.023), access (P < 0.001) and adequacy of ASMIRT provided CPD (P < 0.01) and were more likely to encounter barriers to CPD participation (P < 0.001). Many MRPs experienced barriers which prevented them from participating in CPD. Provision of more online CPD activities by ASMIRT and access to PDL can assist. Future improvements will ensure MRPs remain motivated to engage in CPD to improve clinical skills, patient safety and health outcomes.

Classifying the Characteristics of Effective Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for Computer Science Teachers in the 16-18 Sector

As technology and curricula continue to evolve and develop, the prevalence and effectiveness of continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for computer science teachers is becoming increasingly more important. However, key questions remain about what the characteristics are for effective CPD in this context. Through the presentation of existing literature and the qualitative analysis of interviews with 32 employees from 13 English colleges (n = 14 computer science lecturers, 10 course leaders, and 8 members of senior leadership) this article answers the following question: ‘What are the characteristics of effective continuing professional development for computer science teachers in the 16-18 sector?’ Existing literature indicates how CPD benefits from: (1) knowledge development and application to classroom teaching, (2) self-efficacy development and measurement, (3) observation, feedback and reflection, (4) collaboration and communities of practice, (5) sufficient time, and (6) institution support. Meanwhile, the thematic analysis of interview data led to the creation of five overarching themes: (1) computer science CPD should address various knowledge domains, (2) CPD requires institutional support, (3) CPD should be engaging, (4) computer science CPD should involve a combination of activities, and (5) CPD should be measurable. This qualitative article also presents interview excerpts and contributes to computing education research and practice by presenting a set of thirty guidelines which outlines the characteristics of effective CPD in the context of computer science teachers in the 16-18 sector. These guidelines could be beneficial for both CPD providers and educators in ensuring CPD opportunities are designed more effectively, and with an understanding of both parties’ needs.

Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) During COVID-19: CPD Providers' Perspectives.

COVID-19 precipitated many CPD providers to develop new technology competencies to create effective online CPD. This study aims to improve our understanding of CPD providers' comfort level, supports, perceived advantages/disadvantages, and issues in technology-enhanced CPD delivery during COVID-19. A survey was distributed to CPD providers at the University of Toronto and members of the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Of the 111 respondents, 81% felt very to somewhat confident to provide online CPD, but less than half reported IT, financial, or faculty development supports. The top reported advantage to online CPD delivery was reaching a new demographic; top disadvantages included videoconferencing fatigue, social isolation, and competing priorities. There was interest in using less frequently used educational technology such as online collaboration tools, virtual patients, and augmented/virtual reality. COVID-19 precipitated an increased comfort level in using synchronous technologies to provide CPD, giving the CPD community an increased cultural acceptance and skill level to build on. As we move beyond the pandemic, it will be important to consider ongoing faculty development, particularly toward asynchronous and HyFlex delivery methods to continue expand CPD reach and negate negative online experiences such as videoconferencing fatigue, social isolation, and online distractions.

Paving the Way Forward for Evidence-Based Continuing Professional Development.

Continuing professional development (CPD) fosters lifelong learning and enables health care providers to keep their knowledge and skills current with rapidly evolving health care practices. Instructional methods promoting critical thinking and decision making contribute to effective CPD interventions. The delivery methods influence the uptake of content and the resulting changes in knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behavior. Educational approaches are needed to ensure that CPD meets the changing needs of health care providers. This article examines the development approach and key recommendations embedded in a CE Educator's toolkit created to evolve CPD practice and foster a learning experience that promotes self-awareness, self-reflection, competency, and behavioral change. The Knowledge-to-Action framework was used in designing the toolkit. The toolkit highlighted three intervention formats: facilitation of small group learning, case-based learning, and reflective learning. Strategies and guidelines to promote active learning principles in CPD activities within different modalities and learning contexts were included. The goal of the toolkit is to assist CPD providers to design educational activities that optimally support health care providers' self-reflection and knowledge translation into their clinical environment and contribute to practice improvement, thus achieving the outcomes of the quintuple aim.

Understanding CPD Providers’ Perceptions and Practices About Continuing Professional Development (CPD) For Physical Education (PE) Teachers in Oman

Understanding CPD Providers’ Perceptions and Practices About Continuing Professional Development (CPD) For Physical Education (PE) Teachers in Oman

Advancing Curriculum Development and Design in Health Professions Education: A Health Equity and Inclusion Framework for Education Programs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing health inequities in vulnerable and marginalized patient populations. Continuing professional development (CPD) can be a critical driver of change to improve quality of care, health inequities, and system change. In order for CPD to address these disparities in care for patient populations most affected in the health care system, CPD programs must first address issues of equity and inclusion in their education development and delivery. Despite the need for equitable and inclusive CPD programs, there remains a paucity of tools and frameworks available in the literature to guide CPD and broader education providers on how best to develop and deliver equitable and inclusive education programs. In this article, we describe the development and application of a Health Equity and Inclusion (HEI) Framework for education and training grounded in the Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate model for instructional design. Using a case example, specifically a hospital-wide trauma-informed de-escalation for safety program, we demonstrate how the HEI Framework can be applied practically to CPD programs to support equity and inclusion in the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation phases of education program delivery. The case example illustrates how the HEI Framework can be used by CPD providers to respect learner diversity, improve accessibility for all learners, foster inclusion, and address biases and stereotypes. We suggest that the HEI Framework can serve as an educational resource for CPD providers and health professions educators aiming to create equitable and inclusive CPD programs.

Promoting teachers’ continuous professional development in Cambodian higher education: Issues and recommendations

Teachers need to continually update their teaching skills and knowledge to keep up with the needs of students and the entire education sector. Many teachers are urged to engage in self-improvement to offer their students the best content and get the best outcomes. However, in the Cambodian context, there are several challenges that affect teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD). Key challenges include financial challenges and a lack of support from relevant institutions and stakeholders. As a major facilitator of CPD, the Cambodian government has been involved in various measures to facilitate CPD, especially in the higher education sector. This article discusses the involvement of the Cambodian government in promoting CPD in higher education. It also examines key challenges to CPD provision and offers recommendations to further improve CPD opportunities for Cambodian university teachers.

Dental continuing professional development - Part II: The Malta CPD Pilot Project.

Continuing professional development (CPD) remains voluntary in nine European countries. Evidence suggests a move towards mandatory CPD across Europe with the objective of harmonisation of dental CPD. Although the importance of CPD is acknowledged, the literature regarding its effectiveness is limited and under debate. The main aim was to measure the effectiveness and success of a new CPD programme with the objective to devise a strategy, guidelines and recommendations for the establishment of a dental CPD programme in Malta. This project was divided into two phases; Phase 1 was the analysis of a survey sent out to 135 members of the Dental Association of Malta. Phase 2 involved the evaluation of eight verifiable CPD events, through pre-event and post-event tests and feedback forms, to investigate the effect on short-term knowledge retention and the respective satisfaction levels of participants at each event. The survey had a response rate of 78%. The CPD events in Phase 2 all showed statistically significant improvement in short-term knowledge retention on each subject (p<0.05). Satisfaction levels ranged from 70% to 99%. The information gathered from this project was used to provide guidelines and recommendations for the local regulatory body and CPD providers for the set-up of a dental CPD framework and programmes in Malta, a country where dental CPD is still voluntary. This article is the second article from a two-part series of articles about the Malta Dental CPD Pilot project.

Continuing Professional Development for Mariners

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is now a part of our life in exponentially changing posture of the world. We are living in disrupted development which requires to adopt new technologies in our profession as well as to support emerging new professions. It is important for professionals to keep up with technologic developments and enable themselves to adopt challenging requirements. All the leading parties of maritime industry should understand and evaluate the future of the maritime business and advice the Maritime Education and Training (MET) and research institutes to prepare CPD programmes for mariners. More important the maritime industry should decide their requirement for CPD and manage themselves to get benefit from the CPD to secure their business ensuring their employers’ career development to adapt to challenging requirements. The purpose of this research is to evaluate what kind of initiatives should be started to achieve a reliable and sustainable CPD system for mariners as well as encouraging them to get benefit from CPD programmes. As a continuation of this investigation, possible CPD providers and suitable delivery methods for mariners will be defined. This paper argues for a more realistic approach for CPD for mariners who have very limited access to regular education opportunities due to nature of their job at sea. A detailed literature has been conducted to understand CPD concept and applications supported with a survey conducted with respective persons in the industry to realize the facts which directly affecting CPD opportunities for people working in the shipping industry. We review related data to evaluate how we can develop an effective and reliable CPD system considering existing limitations. Herein lies the contribution of this paper; it is argued that how we can assist the mariners providing them a practical CPD system and meet the new requirements which sector needs under the pressure of rapidly changing technology and its effects on the professions. This is an initial study and results of this study may be used by other researchers who will make further studies on the facilitation of CPD.

Contextual factors influencing the effectiveness of professional development for teachers in rural Pakistan

ABSTRACT This research examines the perceptions of key stakeholders in rural Pakistan to understand the contextual factors influencing the effectiveness of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes for teachers. To do so, the research uses a qualitative case study approach and draws on the experiences of the key stakeholders including providers of CPD, officials of education department, school principals and teachers. Focus group interviews are used to generate data. The research outcomes highlight several significant contextual factors which influence the possibility and quality of CPD. These factors include limited recognition of CPD, reduced motivation of teachers towards CPD and approaches to gender influencing female participation in CPD activities. Since CPD providers intervene without considering these contextual factors, the existing CPD programmes on offer for teachers in rural Pakistan have been less successful in positively impacting the practices of teachers.

Measuring the evolution of online pharmacy education in a national CPD programme, in Scotland, pre-pandemic (2013–14 vs 2018–19)

ABSTRACT Continuing professional development (CPD) is a regulatory requirement for pharmacy professions in Great Britain. Formal CPD is available in various formats including face-to-face, webinar, and e-learning. CPD may be clinical or non-clinical and may be aligned to core services or not. Literature highlights varied preferences for CPD formats and topics, and in Scotland there was a move towards online CPD in the pharmacy profession. This study utilised electronic attendance and completion records of CPD activities from a national CPD provider in Scotland. The aim was to measure and describe the nature of CPD provision and uptake within Pharmacy in Scotland, comparing records from 2013–14 and 2018–19. Thus, benchmarking the nature of CPD before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in social distancing restrictions. This study identified that the CPD workforce (NES staffing), and CPD opportunities provided, had evolved towards e-learning delivery. Face-to-face courses were fewer (63 reduced to 58) as were webinars (14 reduced to 6). There were fewer attendances in both. e-Learning was accessed four times more frequently in 2018–19 than 2013–14 (4040 vs 922 completions). Service focussed education was popular in both years. Asynchronous e-learning had become a popular method of CPD for the pharmacy profession before the COVID-19 pandemic, while face-to-face courses and webinars were less popular than 5 years previous. Asynchronous and service focussed CPD should be prioritised over synchronous and general CPD. Learner access and participation data should be utilised to predict future learner needs and preference.

Promoting culturally sensitive teacher agency in Chinese kindergarten teachers: an integrated learning approach

ABSTRACT As increasingly more Chinese kindergarten teachers attend continuing professional development (CPD) based on pedagogies of international early childhood education and care (ECEC), it is imperative to explore how to address the well-documented rhetoric/practice dissonance that teachers fail to enact what they learn from CPD to enhance their everyday practice. We used a CPD workshop based on English play-based pedagogy as an opportunity to collect first-hand data from Chinese kindergarten teachers through pre- and post-workshop questionnaires and semi-structured interviews at six-month follow-up, in order to shed light on characteristics of effective CPD provision. The findings suggest that CPD based on international ECEC pedagogies should endeavour to promote Chinese kindergarten teachers’ agency at both collective and individual levels by providing integrated learning that aims at enhancing capability and reflexivity in cultural integration, that is, to integrate international pedagogies with culturally acceptable practices under the regimes of cultural and sociopolitical norms in Chinese ECEC system. Characteristics of integrated learning are proposed. To promote culturally sensitive teacher agency in CPD for Chinese kindergarten teachers has profound implications on building a quality workforce in Chinese ECEC.

Patient Partners in Continuing Professional Development: Experience Developing an End-of-Life Care Program for Family Physicians.

Involvement of patients in continuing professional development (CPD) is less developed than in health professional education at undergraduate or postgraduate levels. Although patients are sometimes involved in delivering CPD, they are less likely to be involved in education planning. At our institution, patients have sometimes acted as consultants in the design of CPD. The problem we address is how to engage patients as partners throughout the design process. We applied principles of authentic patient engagement and lessons learned from patient involvement in undergraduate health professional education to the design of CPD for family physicians. We created a partnership between the CPD Office and Patient and Community Partnership for Education, a unit with a history of patient involvement in the education of health professional students. Practices for meaningful involvement were identified through literature review, environmental scan, and interviewing key informants, including patients involved in health professional education at the university. These principles and practices were applied to the development of a CPD module on end-of-life care. Patient partners contributed new perspectives and some CPD providers reassessed components of their own practice as a result. Lessons learned include the need for stakeholder buy-in; mechanisms to identify those patients best able to contribute expertise; ways to facilitate involvement that work for both patients and CPD providers; the importance of feedback mechanisms to patient partners; and recognition for patient contributions. CPD offices should view integration of patient partners in program planning as an opportunity to engage in ongoing quality improvement.

Facilitators, Barriers and Motivators of Paramedic Continuing Professional Development

Introduction As registered health professionals, Australian paramedics are required to abide by professional registration standards including the maintenance of continuing professional development (CPD). The broader health literature identifies facilitators, barriers and motivators for engaging in CPD, however the body of knowledge specific to paramedicine is weak. This research seeks to address this gap in the paramedicine body of knowledge. Methods This study adopts a constructivist grounded theory methodology. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and analysed using first and second cycle coding techniques. Paramedics from various state-based Australasian ambulance services and private industry (N=10) discussed their experiences specific to their attitudes, perceptions and engagement about CPD. Results Paramedic CPD goes beyond the traditional approach to mandatory training. Paramedics are motivated by factors such as modality of delivery, professional expectations, clinical/professional improvement and, sometimes, fear. Facilitators included organisational support, improved clinical knowledge, practitioner confidence, self-directed learning opportunities and perceived relevance of content. Barriers include cost, workload/fatigue, location, rostering, lack of incentive to engage, lack of employer support and technological problems. Conclusion By understanding what facilitates or motivates engagement in CPD activities, paramedics can navigate their CPD in conjunction with regulatory requirements. Although paramedics report some similar experiences to other health professionals, there are nuances that appear specific to the discipline of paramedicine. Of interest, a unique finding related to fear influencing paramedic CPD engagement. The results of this study informs paramedic employers and paramedic CPD providers with insights to assist in the development of positive CPD experiences and interactions.

Cambodian English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Perspectives on Continuing Professional Development of a Non-Governmental Organization in Cambodia

This study explored the perspectives of Cambodian teachers who teach English as a foreign language (EFL) on continuing professional development (CPD) of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Cambodia. This study was motivated by two research questions: (1) what is Cambodian EFL teachers' perception of CPD and the CPD provided by the NGO? (2) What is Cambodian EFL teachers' perception of how to develop CPD to be an effective teacher training program? This study advances our understanding of the practice of CPD in Cambodia and of teachers' perceptions towards their CPD. In this qualitative study, data were collected by means of interviews. Eight Cambodian EFL teachers were deliberately selected to take part in semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that the participant teachers showed a good understanding of CPD and acknowledged that CPD is essential to their teaching career and contributes to better students' learning performance. However, there is a significant concern regarding the time for CPD and the response to the teachers' CPD needs. The participant teachers were of the view that there is more to be done, and they provided several suggestions that are potentially helpful to improve the effectiveness of CPD provision at the NGO.