Professional Development (PD) in Higher Education in the Irish Context Collaborative PD in action Benefits of Collaborative approach to PD Next steps - Round table discussions Debrief & implications for practice

1. Motivations, outcomes and implications of
structured professional development for
academic developers – a collaborative approach
Mary Fitzpatrick, Fiona O’Riordan, Claire McAvinia, Íde O’Sullivan,
Angelica Rísquez, Margaret Keane

2. Overview
• Professional Development (PD) in Higher Education in the
Irish Context
• Collaborative PD in action
• Benefits of Collaborative approach to PD
• Next steps - Round table discussions
• Debrief & implications for practice

3. CPD in the Irish Context
• Historically, no mandatory requirement to engage in CPD in HE context
• National Professional Development Framework (August 2016) provides
• Flexible and inclusive pathway
• “Empowers staff to create, discover and engage in meaningful personal and
professional development” and assists HEIs in “planning, developing and
engaging in professional development activities.”
• High level target within Higher Education System Performance
Framework 2018-2020 for all HEIs to
• “implement the Professional Development Framework for all academic staff in
all HEIs”.

4. New national suite of PD digital badges

5. Collaborative PD – What we did!
1. Am I ready
for PD?
2. Planning for
my PD:
Explore NPDF
3.1 Taking action
for my PD: PD
action plan
3.2 Engagement
with a critical friend
Personal Insights

6. Collaborative PD – How we did it
• Worked to a clear goal and objective
• Group moderator – no formal rules established
• Meetings scheduled in advance
• Timelines agreed
• Shared space provided
• Actions to be completed over 4 months

7. Evidencing our experience
• Participants as researchers
• Qualitative data
• Recorded online meetings (Zoom)
• Participants’ personal reflections and insights
• Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis

8. Benefits of Collaborative PD to Academic
Developers
• Accountability: Motivation
and impetus to engage in
digital badge
• Space, commitment and
drive in future planning
• Deeper and wider reflection
as a group….. and a
subgroup
• Learning from others –
shared ideas and practice

9. Benefits of Collaborative PD to Academic
Developers
• Validation of practice on
shared concerns
• time
• scholarship
• pressure to model best
practice
• Safe environment to apply
the NPDF before facilitating
the learning of others
• Increased inter-institutional
support, collegiality and
collaboration
• Individual CPD action plans
established

10. Next steps – Your input/feedback!
Group 1: How can academic developers use their experience of
collaborative PD to encourage others to commit in a positive and
collaborative way?
Group 2: What are the challenges for academic developers in
prioritising their own PD?
Group 3: What are the opportunities and merits in continuing with
such a collaborative approach to PD (sustainability issues etc)?

11. Debrief– Your
input/feedback!

12. Collaborative PD: Implications for practice
• Importance of a clear process:
• Safe environment (trust)
• Group moderator
• Timelines
• Key focus for individual engagement
• Actions
• Feedback

13. Thank you!
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