Over recent years, the professional development review process has risen in importance in universities with such exercises being shown to have a positive effect on student learning, staff motivation, recruitment and retention. However, they may also be perceived as a controlling mechanism and part of a culture of 'performativity', which implies a…

This research investigates the initial degree programme of a new Higher Education Provider (HEP) through a practitioner-based case study focusing on the experiences of senior leaders enrolled as mature degree apprentices. The qualitative study utilised an interpretivist and constructivist approach involving in-depth interviews and a focus group.…

In 2016 the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education funded three Irish academic libraries to review, implement and evaluate a new "National Professional Development Framework for All Staff who Teach in Higher Education" over two years. The Framework situates professional development as a process…

This publication presents the main structural aspects regarding access to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services and their quality in 40 European education and training systems. It examines whether and from what age countries provide a guarantee to a place in ECEC -- the main means to ensure access. It also covers several essential…

This paper offers a practitioner's view of how continuing professional development (CPD) can help raise achievement in schools. It is one of four papers in this issue linked to a research project in Stoke-on-Trent seeking to raise attainment in schools in deprived communicates. Based on over 20 years' experience working in and with different…

This paper describes a career development program for staff involved in providing training for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand. Most of these staff were professional vocational teachers in schools. The program uses information communication technology (ICT), and its main objective is to teach Moodle software as a tool for…

This article explores competing conceptions of university teaching as, on the one hand, a generic professional practice and, on the other hand, an activity which can only be understood in the context of discipline-specific issues. The article draws on empirical research by the author, within the discipline of social policy, to question recent…

This article outlines how cultural change was achieved for enhancing the student experience. The engagement and development of staff and a model of partnership is presented that delivered new services and developments. The change is disclosed from a staff development perspective including an examination of differentiation and what makes a good…

This article identifies factors that gave rise to current educational models to prepare rehabilitation practitioners for work in community-based services in Alberta, Canada; examines recent changes in resources available and services to be delivered; and offers examples of personnel preparation models being organized for the future. (JDD)

Continuing training is important for all professionals, and is especially essential for professionals in education. In this article, we present a study that evaluates the state of continuing training in early childhood education in Spain. The research identifies the impact of training for teachers, for children and for educational centers. Results…

Provides an analysis of continuing education in West Germany. Discusses the pluralistic nature of financing, the corporate sponsorship, and internal versus external educational activities. Presents advantages and disadvantages, reasons, and criteria for selecting either internal or external methods of continuing education. (JM)

Consequences for medical education and teaching hospitals of a 1958 policy ruling in France include considerable benefits to regional hospitals resulting from their status as teaching hospitals; improved doctor training; improved general staff quality; underdeveloped research capabilities; and slow integration of new disciplines and technologies.…

The focus of this paper is on the education and training of staff who work in the early education and childcare sector but who are not members of established professions like teaching, social work and health. The paper provides an analysis of the extent to which this group of early education and childcare staff can be considered as a developing…

This paper outlines the changes and resultant strategy alterations that took place in the legal education system of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1991 and how these changes affected the Vientiane School of Law. In the late 1980s, the government was transformed from a centrally-governed economy into a market economy. The difficult task…

A study of the education and training of nurses in Australia by the Tertiary Education Commission of Australia is presented. In September 1977 the Minister for Education appointed a committee to advise the Commission on possible developments and changes in nurse education and training. Data were collected from visits and consultations with…