Lifelong Professional Development Research Articles

Networked aspects of lifelong work-integrated learning

The increasingly digitalised and continuously changing working life needs a continuous lifelong professional development that preferably is networked and work-integrated. This this study builds upon university teachers' and course participants’ experiences from a technology enhanced project called BUFFL A pilot project that combines truly work-integrated learning with lifelong learning, in a strive to address the contemporary need for continuous professional development. The important aim in the BUFFL project is to develop a model for collaborative, flexible, and lifelong professional development. A new and interesting concept in the BUFFL project was to involve concept of Bringing Your Own Data for activities in course modules. The aim of this study is to describe and discuss the lifelong work-integrated learning in the BUFFL project from a networked learning perspective. Data were gathered from e-mail interviews with teachers, e-mail conversations between teachers, facilitators and course participants, and from course evaluations. Results from the data sources have been grouped into three main themes in an inductive thematic analysis. Findings show that in academia, in industry, and in the in between a potential is found in the form of collaborative learning. A networked collaboration that should involve the theories from academia, combined with real-world-problems in the workplace, to achieve a fruitful meeting between academia and the industry

‘Every ending requires us to begin anew’: Endings and beginnings in supervisory relationships

Aim(s)Supervision has been characterised as a ‘signature pedagogy’ in the helping professions and an integral component of pre-service training for applied psychologists. Regulatory and professional standards for trainee and qualified Educational Psychologists (EPs) emphasise engagement in supervision as part of our discipline’s orientation towards learning and growth, as well as in enhancing safety and effectiveness for service users. This paper aims to provide a reflective account of evaluation and endings in supervisory relationships.Method/RationaleThere is an increasing interest in the place of supervision as a core component of lifelong professional learning and development. In contrast to beginnings, the evaluation and ending of supervisory relationships (SR) have received less attention in the literature and can be left unattended to in practice. This may reflect some uncomfortable feelings associated with giving and receiving feedback within professional relationships, as well as the multiple meanings endings may have for supervisee and supervisor. The Relational Model of Supervision for Applied Psychology Practice (RMSAPP) and associated supervisory process in evaluation and endings may support practice in this area. This paper outlines the model’s framework for evaluation and ending, and a reflective account of the ending and beginning of supervisory relationships is provided. The supervisee provided feedback on the SR to the original supervisor and this informed the ending made in that supervisory dyad. The supervisee then established a new SR with a different supervisor and the paper’s reflective accounts are from three perspectives: the supervisee, the former and new supervisors.FindingsA critically reflective account of evaluating, ending and new beginnings between a supervisee and two different supervisors is offered, with attention paid to the power differentials between supervisee and supervisors. The account illustrates some of the meanings made of evaluation, endings and beginnings. The benefits of the approach are highlighted, and some tentative ideas about how further developments could be made included.LimitationsThe meanings derived from the authors’ experiential learning arose within particular SRs and are unique to these relationships.ConclusionsThere are opportunities for development of reflective EP practice in this area, and for further research. The reflective accounts provided may be a stimulus for further reflection on personal and professional development of supervisory practice.

Lifelong Professional Development and Learning Communities in Contemporary Schools: Views of Primary School Teachers

Lifelong Professional Development and Learning Communities in Contemporary Schools: Views of Primary School Teachers

Towards a conceptualized model of supporting teachers’ application process for acquiring professional qualifications

Teacher professional evaluation and teacher self-evaluation have always been a challenge. Unfortunately, there are not enough opportunities to help teachers assess their professional development, developmental needs and levels of qualifications. The current study examines teachers’ expectations for the technical application to support the assessment of their professional development and qualification application process. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the concept of professionalism, which includes the expected qualification of a teacher and their lifelong professional development. The data for this paper were collected through semi-structured focus group interviews and analysed using qualitative inductive content analysis. The results clearly reveal the teachers' vision of the specific expectations and the need to create the technical application that supports the teacher in both self-analysis and self-assessment, as well as in the professional qualification application process. The creation of the technical application helps teachers in valuing their work, and defining themselves as learning professionals, while supporting their professional self-development and self-esteem.

Vocational Education in the Context of Modern Problems and Challenges

The article analyzes the factors caused by the threat of spreading the coronavirus infection COVID-19 and introducing the martial law in Ukraine which affect the state of the vocational education. Taking into account the modern challenges and problems based on the analisys of the legislation the main directions of the vocational education development were determined. In particular, improving qualifications and professional development of teachers’ staff, enriching material and technical base of the vocational education institutions and educational programmes as well. Trendwatching of the modern labour market made it possible to single out its main trends: a change in the structure of employment, primarily an increase in the variability of employment; lifelong learning; automation and robotics; age diversity; forming hard skills, soft skills, digital skills; multipotentiality, background, interdisciplinarity. In order to solve the urgent problems and ensure the reorientation of the vocational training of qualified workers and improving its quality, special measures were suggested, including participating in the projects financed from the EU funds; developing educational modules and special courses for promoting lifelong professional development of teachers, improving educational programmes to enable improvement of the material and technical base of the vocational education institutions and professional development of teachers.

Conceptual Core Competency Model for Halal Executives in Food Manufacturing Companies

A competent halal executive is essential and an integral part of the Halal Management System in Halal-certified companies. Core competencies in general are linked with job productivity, job performance, and organisational performance. In Malaysia, initiatives are currently underway to produce competent and professional Halal executives. As for now, the competencies of halal executives are yet to be defined. Defining and identifying the core competencies is pivotal as the Malaysian Halal industry needs to appoint more competent halal executives to serve the halal-certified companies. Thus, this article aims to identify the set of competencies for halal executives via a literature review. This would allow for the further development of the Halal executive core competencies conceptual model. In addition, the background of Halal executives in the Malaysian Halal industry is also discussed to provide context for this review article. The conceptual model proposed is useful in discussing and developing the idea of core competencies, especially in the halal manufacturing industry context. A comprehensive core competencies model is useful for preparing future halal executives, evaluating halal executives' practises in the workplace, and for their lifelong professional development. Other countries could use the same core competencies framework to inform the development of the human resource related to Halal.

Opening up the University for a Multi-directed Lifelong Professional Development

In a time when most countries are facing a rapidly emerging knowledge society, the investment in human resources is essential for companies and organisations. In parallel, technology enhanced learning has enabled more flexible forms of professional development with work-integrated learning, an interesting shift that also challenges the traditional university model. An interesting concept for realising the work-integrated learning principle of solving practical problems in the industry with the use of theory from academia, is to let participants and companies to bring their own data (BYOD). This study was based on the BUFFL project, where BYOD activities have been an essential part of course design and learning activities for bank and insurance company staff. A project that is a cross-disciplinary collaboration between six companies, three universities, and researchers from different university departments. The aim of this study is to present, analyse and discuss the design and implementation of a pilot project for a technology enhanced and multi-directed lifelong professional development. The main research question to answer was: "What are the bank and insurance company staff perceptions of the BUFFL project design of technology enhanced professional development, and the idea of bringing their own data to course activities?" 
 Data for a preliminary project evaluation has been gathered by course evaluation questionnaires from 14 instances of 9 course modules. Questionnaires comprised 30 questions with a mix of Likert-scale questions and questions with open-ended free-text answers. In a strive to find the data that have a potential to answer the research question 10 Likert-scale questions and 4 free-text questions were selected. Results from the Likert-scale questions were presented as a descriptive statistical analysis that discusses frequency, central tendency and variation. Open-ended free-text answers have been categorised in an deductive thematic analysis and compared to the results from the Likert-scale questions. Findings indicate that a technology enhanced and workplace integrated course design is appreciated, when information and communication technologies work. On the other hand, technology incidents have caused irritation and the provisional support model needs a further development that also could survive the project span. The earlier complaints on too theoretical course literature, and that course design lacks adaption to the participants actual workplace situations are contradicted by the result of the quantitative analysis. However, there are also indications that universities have to open up further, in a shift to a more multi-directed communication and knowledge sharing between academia, industry and society. Finally, even if course modules are given on a 25% pace, the current workload can be demanding for full-time working participants.

Capability-informed competency approach to lifelong professional development.

Capability-informed competency approach to lifelong professional development.

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Continuous Nursing Education (CNE): Contributions and Challenges: A Review

becomes an important aspect of the health care system and the growth in quality of health care education process. Continuous nursing education (CNE) is a lifelong professional development to enhance the knowledge, skills and attitude of nurses for the development of nursing practice, education, administration and research. The development of massive open online course (MOOC) which is an e-learning platform, has changed the approach of continuous education. However, the pedagogy in MOOC CNE is still under-developed. Although numerous roles for MOOC have been proposed in both in and out campus for nursing programs, a clear rationale for their effectiveness is still nascent. This review attempts to explore MOOC and its contributions and challenges in CNE. Literature search was conducted on articles published between 2010–2020 in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase Ovid, Ovid Emcare and CINAHL Plus databases, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, ProQuest and the Google Scholar whereby only English-language and peer-reviewed journal articles were included. Eight articles were selected for review and three aspects were extracted: i) history of MOOC, ii) characteristics of MOOC in health care, and iii) its contributions and challenges to lifelong learning as well as CNE. The findings provided valuable insights about MOOC based CNE as an inspiring approach that holds a great potential to offer credible, cost-effective and readily accessible contents to the health care providers

ENSURING PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE COMPETENCE AS A NECESSARY FACTOR FOR IMPROVING THE EXPERTISE OF FINANCIERS AND BANK EMPLOYEES

Abstract. The article is aimed at analyzing the impact of globalization challenges to ensure qualitative professional language competence as a necessary factor for improving the expertise of financiers and bank employees to meet requirements and needs of national and regional labour markets. The theoretical importance of the article is that it is analyzed the semantic content of the basic notions connected with professional language competence in the foreign scientific space. The practical importance of the article is that the authors proved experimentally implementing the professional language competence and developed recommendations for ensuring this competence in higher educational institutions of Ukraine. The article deals with the current issues of the development of economic education, state policy implementation directed to the experts of this area. The essence, content and structure of professional language competence are highlighted in this article. The features of cognitive and practical activities of financiers and bank employees are revealed. The constituents and conditions for increasing the efficiency of forming the professional language competence of these finance and bank specialists and their willingness are defined. A significant attention is paid to the importance of prediction of lifelong professional education development, strengthening of forecast scientific research function. The specific features of forming the content of training and the application of innovative and advanced pedagogical technologies are identified. The interaction of economic, scientific and technical factors being considered in training experts for above-mentioned industry is outlined. In order to estimate efficiency of this training interdisciplinarity is of great significance. The necessity of using interdisciplinary educational technologies in the professional training of financiers and bank employees is substantiated. The importance of interdisciplinarity in education under the conditions of intense development in information training and the expanded function of intellectual property objects in modern economy are demonstrated. It has been found that interdisciplinarity of economic education is grounded on the network connections of the studied disciplines. The aim, content, and trends in interdisciplinarity of academic education are presented in the system of economic training. Keywords: language competence, financiers and bank employees, professional education and training, higher education, labour market, upgrading, technologies, forecast. JEL Classification I21, L33 Formulas: 0; fig.: 0; tabl.: 0; bibl.: 28.

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN UNPREDICTABLY CHANGING ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

No school, no faculty today, when everything is changing so fast, can claim to form educated people with complete and final knowledge in their profession at graduation time. One of the main tasks of educational institutions should then be to teach their students to learn how to learn throughout their lives, embracing the paradigm of continuing education. We argue that diversified education forms with strong emphasis on continuing education, as opposed to classical education models, are necessary for ensuring employability and livelihood in unpredictable economic conditions. It must be acknowledged that even the developed countries cannot boast that they have harmonized the classical education system with the needs of continuing education for retraining and lifelong professional development. In this paper we also set forth a number of recommendations for improving the educational capacities to provide continuing education through well thought-out and planned reforms, taking as a model the current situation of the education system in North Macedonia.

Specifics of Professional Training of Teachers for Teaching Music Culture

Professional training is part of the professional development and lifelong learning process of an individual. The teacher in the classroom has very complex tasks and great responsibility in the upbringing and education of future generations in every society, and lifelong professional development is especially important. Therefore, the research aims to determine the level of teachers' self-assessment of professional development for teaching music culture, ie in the field of music theory and pedagogy. A sample of 365 teachers from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina used the Likert-type scale, within which the respondents expressed their assessments of the forms, areas, and reasons for professional development for teaching music culture. The research results indicate that teachers highly prefer various forms of professional development. They express the need for professional development in the fields of playing and creativity, and the most pronounced reasons for professional development are the need to maintain musical competencies that are lost over time. Based on the research findings, the authors give recommendations regarding possible directions and ways of professional development of teachers in the field of music theory and pedagogy, ie. for teaching music culture.

Learning through life and the ethics of teaching: a story told in fifteen voices

ABSTRACT Attempting to connect theoretical arguments for the primacy of ethics in teachers’ practice to real life experience we interviewed fifteen teachers from Greece and Iceland. The stories they told were in accord with a broadly Aristotelian notion of moral development. They saw their moral education as process that began early in life and continued through years of work, where the latter stages required opportunities to engage in deliberations about human affairs. Our results suggest that, when thinking about the moral education of teachers, we should focus not only on preservice education but also on lifelong professional development.

How does physical education teacher education matter? A methodological approach to understanding transitions from PETE to school physical education

ABSTRACT Background In this paper, we will address the question of how physical education teacher education (PETE) matters and suggest one way to explore the potential impact of PETE. A distinguishing feature of the studies of PETE's impact on physical education is that they either include perspectives from preservice teachers involved in PETE courses or perspectives from physical education teachers in schools looking back at their education. Longitudinal attempts to follow preservice teachers’ journey from education to workplace, in order to grasp how they perceive the relation between teacher education and teaching practice in schools, and the transition between these contexts, are few and far between. This gap of knowledge is a missing piece of the puzzle to further develop PETE, and to inform life-long professional development for teachers. Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we develop and present a methodological approach for investigating the transition of content areas from courses in PETE into teaching practice in school physical education. Second, we will illustrate the potential utility of this methodological approach in longitudinal studies by showing how one particular content area, Assessment for Learning (AfL), was investigated through the use of methods and theories described in the first part of this paper. Methodology The suggested longitudinal approach involves Stimulated Recall (SR) interviews with pre- and postservice teachers, observations and communication with groups of students and teachers through social media. The construction, recontextualisation and realisation of pedagogic discourses regarding content areas are suggested to be analysed through a combination of Bernstein's concept of the pedagogic device and Ball's concept of fabrication. Results and Conclusions The longitudinal design and the suggested methodology can provide answers to how content areas are transformed in and between PETE and school physical education. A combination of the theoretical perspectives of Bernstein and Ball enables us to say something not only about how pedagogic discourses regarding content areas are constructed, recontextualised and realised in PETE and school physical education, but also about what content areas become in terms of fabrications in the transition between these contexts. To conclude, we argue that the methodological research design can be used to explore different content areas in PETE and that this methodology can contribute to knowledge about how PETE matters for school physical education.

Formation of linguistic competence of a foreign language teacher (on the example of language) in the system of lifelong learning

The purpose of the academic paper is to establish how effective the introduction of additional courses to advanced training courses is, informing foreign language teachers about world international educational programs in the lifelong professional development system; determining the impact on the knowledge quality of introducing a set of educational activities aimed at the formation of linguistic competence. Empirical, statistical and theoretical methods have been used in the research. In order to diagnose the awareness of teachers about the lifelong learning system and the effectiveness of improving linguistic competence after completing advanced training courses, the methods of questioning, observation, as well as the experimental method have been used. The result of the present research is substantiation that a comprehensive approach to lifelong learning programs contributes to the formation of linguistic competence; it should be permanent and be part of the program of training and retraining of English teachers.

НЕПЕРЕРВНА ПРОФЕСІЙНА ОСВІТИ: ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА ТА ВИКЛИКИ СУЧАСНОСТІ

The article reveals the essence of the definitions «lifelong education», «lifelong professional education», «system of lifelong education». An urgent problem today is to search ways to modernize and improve the system of lifelong professional education in order to make education meet the needs of society as a whole and each individual in particular at each level. The variability of surrounding reality is the basis for change in society and social institutions. Lifelong professional education cannot exist in isolation from other social systems. Education is the engine for the development of society (economic, political, social, etc.). The interpretation of the concept of «lifelong education» by different authors is analyzed, various contexts are considered (as a concept, as an aspect of educational practice, as a principle of educational organization, as a principle of state policy implementation, as modern trend, as a paradigm of scientific and pedagogical thinking). The roles of lifelong education (for an individual, for society, for the state, for the world community) are considered. Developmental stages of lifelong education (V. Onushkina, O. Tonkonoga, T. Desyatova, N. Nychkalo) are investigated. The problems of modern professional education are considered (subject education, elemental approach, separation of the subjects of the educational process from its results, the absence of quality requirements at each stage, etc.) and suggested ways to eliminate them. The characteristics of lifelong learning (duration, motivation, goals and objectives, network of educational services) are analyzed. The functions of lifelong professional education are considered: socio-cultural (developmental), general education (compensatory), adaptive and economic. The priority directions of lifelong professional education development are analyzed: intellectualization of education; personality-oriented approach; educational services market; modernization of all types of support; social partnership; international cooperation. The requirements for lifelong professional education at present stage of society development are formulated and characterized. The system of lifelong professional education is considered as a dynamic system that is in constant development.

Preparação para a aposentadoria: intervenção em um serviço público municipal

O trabalho ocupa um lugar de centralidade na vida humana, de modo que intervenções acerca da transição trabalho-aposentadoria vêm sendo desenvolvidas objetivando facilitar o desenvolvimento profissional ao longo da vida, sobretudo no estágio de desengajamento. Este estudo objetivou descrever e analisar os resultados de um programa de preparação para a aposentadoria (PPA). Em quatro anos do programa participaram 122 pessoas com idade média de 57 anos (DP=1,52). O programa foi desenvolvido em oito encontros, nos quais foram abordados os seguintes temas: vida financeira, empreendedorismo, saúde e envelhecimento, família, vida social, trajetória socioprofissional e projetos de futuro. Por meio de autoavaliações, comparando a situação pré e pós intervenção, os participantes registraram mudanças relevantes nos sentimentos e recursos internos para enfrentamento da transição trabalho- aposentadoria. Foram apontadas possibilidades de aprimoramento do programa e de implementação de políticas públicas para a aposentadoria e o envelhecimento digno, considerando o cenário econômico e previdenciário brasileiro.

A cross-sectional survey of attitudes towards education in implant dentistry in the undergraduate dental curriculum

BackgroundAn ongoing debate in dental education is whether implant dentistry, as a multidisciplinary domain, should be integrated into the undergraduate curriculum. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the perspectives of novices, clinical educators, and experienced dentists with regard to the importance of theoretical and practical implant dentistry teaching content in undergraduate dental education. The specific objective was to determine whether a consensus could be found concerning aspects of theoretical knowledge, implant position planning, implantation, prosthetic treatment procedures, postoperative care, and prerequisite experiences that should be provided in undergraduate dental education.ResultsA positive consensus existed in terms of theoretical education, assistance in surgical and prosthodontic procedures, implant planning and restoration in straightforward cases (i.e., posterior single crowns and bridges, overdentures on nonconnected implants), and postoperative care. A negative consensus existed for bone augmentation. Implantation was supported by novices (i.e., students and graduates). In addition, more experienced dentists were more likely to oppose implantation performed by undergraduates. The most preferred implantation method was implant insertion using a digitally fabricated drilling template, after surgical flap elevation.ConclusionsStudents and graduates preferred a comprehensive undergraduate education that included implant dentistry. Dentists working in private practice, and especially dentists working as university educators, were critical towards the integration of implant-related learning content into undergraduate education. The intention of medical education is to impart knowledge to students and to prepare them for life-long learning and continual professional development after graduation. Thus, an undergraduate dental curriculum that provides students a solid introduction and knowledge foundation in implant dentistry is recommended.

Sérsniðið framhaldsnám grunnskólakennara: starfsþróun fagstéttar eða praktískt nám til almennra kennslustarfa?

Frá því að Kennaraháskóli Íslands öðlaðist lagaheimild til að útskrifa kennara með framhaldsgráður háskólanáms árið 1988 hefur þar verið boðið upp á fjölmargar leiðir í framhaldsnámi og starfsþróun kennara og fleiri stétta. Vorið 2014 stóð Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands fyrir könnun meðal grunnskólakennara með bakkalárgráðu í samstarfi við Kennarasamband Íslands. Spurt var um æskilegt inntak og skipulag framhaldsnáms, hugsanlega hvata til að sækja slíkt nám og hvernig mætti útfæra það. Af 734 svörum mátti ráða að umtalsverður áhugi væri á slíku framhaldsnámi. Haustið 2015 hófu 35 starfandi kennarar sérsniðið framhaldsnám byggt á niðurstöðum könnunarinnar og stefnu Háskóla Íslands um meistaranám grunnskólakennara. Hér er greint frá rannsókn á viðhorfum og reynslu þeirra sem sóttu hið sérsniðna nám á tímabilinu 2015 til 2019. Sjónum var beint að samhenginu milli fræða (teoríu) og starfs á vettvangi (praxis), hugmyndum þátttakenda um eigin fagmennsku og fagvitund og hugmyndum um möguleika og þarfir á starfsþróun. Niðurstöður benda til þess að tengsl fræða við starfið á vettvangi séu óskýr þegar kemur að starfsþróun og tilteknir þættir í kerfinu hindri jafnvel eðlilega þróun fagmennsku og fagvitundar kennara. Þar ber helst að nefna margþættar væntingar til starfsins og óljósar hugmyndir um það í hvers þágu starfsþróun kennara ætti að vera.

Entrustable Professional Activities in General Surgery: Trends in Resident Self-Assessment

Effective self-assessment is a cornerstone of lifelong professional development; however, evidence suggests physicians have a limited ability to self-assess. Novel strategies to improve the accuracy of learner self-assessment are needed. Our institution's surgical entrustable professional activity (EPA) implementation strategy incorporates resident self-assessment to address this issue. This study evaluates the accuracy of resident self-assessment versus faculty assessment across 5 EPAs in general surgery. Within a single academic general surgery residency program, assessment data for 5 surgery EPAs was prospectively collected using a mobile application. Matched assessments (resident and faculty assessments for the same clinical encounter) were identified and the remainder excluded. Assessment scores were compared using Welch's t test. Agreement was analyzed using Cohen's kappa with squared weights. One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven EPA assessments were collected in 17 months following implementation. One thousand one hundred and fifty-five (62.2%) were matched pairs. Residents under-rated their own performance relative to faculty assessments (2.36 vs 2.65, p < 0.01). This pattern held true for all subsets except for Postgraduate Year (PGY)2 residents and Inguinal Hernia EPAs. There was at least moderate agreement between matched resident and faculty EPA assessment scores (κ = 0.57). This was consistent for all EPAs except Trauma evaluations, which were completed by faculty from 2 different departments. Surgery resident self-assessments more strongly agreed with Surgery faculty assessments than Emergency Medicine faculty assessments (κ = 0.58 vs 0.36). Resident EPA self-assessments are equivalent or slightly lower than faculty assessments across a wide breadth of clinical scenarios. Resident and faculty matched assessments demonstrate moderate agreement.