by Jacqui Nelson
Last week we also attended the CPD Forum Conference. We had supported this event financially and so I was delighted to see such a good turnout – over 80 CPD professionals from a wide range of professional bodies.
I am always struck by the collegiate atmosphere at CPD Forum events. I am envious of the way that people can share with others facing similar issues. In my world there are lots of people with the same problems but they are on the whole competitors and the last thing I am going to do ideas to share all our best ideas with them!
The highlight of the day was the afternoon debate. The motion being debated was:
“This house believes that CPD is best left to individual professionals; mandatory CPD distorts the natural desires for and processes of learning.”
The proposers and seconders did a great job both of laying out the issues and of entertaining us, but in the end the motion was defeated was a massive margin of 67 to 11. So, strong support for mandatory CPD.
This of course is good news for us. Our CPD courses are used extensively by a wide variety of professionals, but they are taken up most earnestly where there is a backdrop of mandatory CPD. While I understand that some people think that these schemes create unnecessary bureaucracy for hard pressed professionals, I for one think it is critical for the future public image of the professions that they are seen to require high standards of ongoing competence.
Watching people using our courses avidly in December as they run out of time before the year end does impress upon me the responsibility we have as a publisher to produce courses of a high standard that will really help, and not to take advantage of their slightly desperate position by selling them sub-standard content.
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