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A cooperative model of staff development in relation to professional education is outlined which considers staff development within both further and higher education. Examines general principles of human resource development, continuing professional development as well as quality and benchmarking issues. A case study of the development of course tutors who have academic responsibility for managing professional courses approved by the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) within further education colleges and universities in the North East of England is presented. Considers the cooperative approach to staff development between competing educational institutions and the collective relationship between the educational institutions and a professional body. The need for cooperation is examined within the context of the professional institute and the challenges facing the Education Group at its inception are briefly outlined. Benefits for staff, students and ultimately the professional body are detailed and, finally, the model is summarised and its application to other institutions is briefly considered.

As a profession, healthcare management values commitment to lifelong learning and continuous professional development. Individual participation, however, is voluntary and healthcare managers choose to participate based in part on perceptions of organizational support (rewards, promotion and recognition) as well as on individual values. As women are narrowing the career attainment gap, participation in development activities may play a critical role. This paper aims to present a pilot study which assesses the differences in male and female healthcare managers' participation in professional development activities and perceived organizational support.

An exploratory survey was emailed to current and past members of three professional associations who share similar missions “to provide educational and networking opportunities” for their members in the southern region of Florida.

The findings suggest that women healthcare managers are less likely to pursue professional development activities than their male counterparts even when the outcome (i.e. obtaining professional certification) is associated with career advancement and salary increases. Furthermore, men are more likely than women to attend multiple continuing education programs when paying out of pocket.

This pilot study is one of the first attempts to account for the factors that explain gender differences in pursuing personal development activities. Rather than conclusive judgments, it provides directions for further research.

As professional and leadership competencies become more ingrained in the industry, women may need to recognize and commit to development activities associated with healthcare leadership and management.

Competencies gained through professional development activities may impact career attainment.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how principals’ leadership approaches to teacher professional development arise from school banding and may impact upon teacher professional capital and student achievement.

The case study is situated within the context of school-based management, comprising reflective accounts of nine school principals selected by stratified sampling from a sample of 56 Hong Kong schools to represent Bands One, Two, and Three schools. The reflective accounts were triangulated with observations of teachers and analysis of school websites.

First, under school-based management, principals remain obliged to recognize the power of state-defined examinations in determining the schools’ future priorities. Second, the exercise of school autonomy in response to this obligation varies, depending upon the competitive advantage schools have in the school banding system. Ideally, effective school-based management is dependent upon the principal’s capacity to facilitate good instructional practices. However, principals need to adjust their leadership practices to school contextual demands. Third, adaptations to contexts result in the varied developments of teacher capacities in schools, corresponding with the types of principal leadership adopted.

While statistical studies have identified attributes of exemplary principal leadership, few studies have examined the qualitative reasons for the exemplification of these attributes, and the influence of the school context in shaping these attributes. Departing from assumptions that leadership attributes are intrinsic to individuals, this paper considers how principals contextualize leadership in teacher professional development to the schools’ student academic achievement.

Postdoctoral scholars are increasingly pursuing diverse career paths requiring broad skill sets. This study aims to create a more comprehensive understanding of current approaches and strategies for postdoctoral scholars professional learning and development.

This literature review is a systematic examination and synthesis of the current literature describing professional learning and development pertaining to postdoctoral scholars. The objectives and components of initiatives were extracted and narratively synthesized to identity important patterns and themes across the literature.

Commonalities amongst professional learning and development initiatives for postdoctoral scholars included skills development in the following areas: teaching and learning, mentorship, academic careers, academic writing, industry careers, networking, career planning, project management, time management, communication, leadership and balancing work-life demands.

In synthesizing the literature that describes professional learning and development opportunities for postdoctoral scholars, it is apparent that opportunities look different in every setting with no empirical evidence that one strategy is more effective than another. Given the significant resources often required to support professional learning and development initiatives, a deeper understanding of the benefits and deficiencies of various components is needed to ensure scarce resources are invested in the most effective strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of professional training and development for librarians/library staff in the southwest, Nigeria; especially the Federal University of OyeEkiti, Nigeria. Thus, this study intends to assess the impact of staff professional development and training on the job performance of library staff in the Federal University Oye Ekiti, Nigeria.

The descriptive survey research design was used in carrying out this study. The population of study cuts across all library staff/attendants in the Federal University Oye Ekiti departmental, faculty and the university libraries. The purposive sampling technique was used in selecting the sample for the study (77 library staff). Research instruments, developed by the researchers, Staff Development Programme Questionnaire (r = 0.79), Staff performance Questionnaire (r = 0.81), Challenges of Staff Professional Development and Training Questionnaire (r = 0.82), were used for data collection. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts and percentages, mean and standard deviation) and inference statistics (correlation and one-way ANOVA) at a 5% level of significance.

Results revealed that the level of the job performance of library staff in Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) is high; there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between the professional development of library staff and their performance in the job; professional development and training of library staff significantly impact their job performance; orientation, in-house training, seminars, on-the-job training and instructor-led training.

The study was limited to the university libraries in the Federal University Oye Ekiti, Nigeria. The variables used in this study were restricted to training and development of library staff and job performance of librarians in FUOYE, and professional development programmes available for FUOYE librarians.

Other forms of professional development programmes such as Distance Educational Programmes, Conferences/Workshops, Study visits, Formal professional library education and TETFUND Programmes should be made available for university library staff. Universities should always organise staff professional development programmes; since it enhances the job performance of library staff.

This article is original and has not been published elsewhere.

This monograph reports on the strategic and operational roles of learning and development (L&D) professionals in Irish, UK European and US organisations including multinational corporations, small to medium enterprises, the public sector and not for profit organisations. This paper aims to investigate the contextual factors influencing L&D roles in organisations, the strategic and operational roles that L&D professionals play in organisations, the competencies and career trajectories of L&D professionals, the perceptions of multiple internal stakeholders of the effectiveness of L&D roles and the relationships between context, L&D roles, competencies/expertise and perceived organisational effectiveness.

The study findings are based on the use of multiple methods. The authors gathered data from executives, senior managers, line managers, employee and L&D professionals using multiple methods: a survey (n = 440), Delphi study (n = 125) and semi-structured interviews (n = 30).

The analysis revealed that L&D professionals increasingly respond to a multiplicity of external and internal contextual influences and internal stakeholders perceived the effectiveness of L&D professionals differently with significant gaps in perceptions of what L&D contributes to organisational effectiveness. L&D professionals perform both strategic and operational roles in organisations and they progress through four career levels. Each L&D role and career level requires a distinct and unique set of foundational competencies and L&D expertise. The authors found that different contextual predictors were important in explaining the perceived effectiveness of L&D roles and the importance attached to different foundational competencies and areas of L&D expertise.

This is one of the few studies to have investigated the L&D professional role in organisations from the perspective of multiple stakeholders using multiple research methods.

This paper describes the development, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education (EDGE) in Geography, a multiyear project begun in 2005 to study the process of professional development in graduate geography in the U.S and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. As a research and action project responding to the needs of graduate geography programs, EDGE seeks to provide academic geographers with an empirical perspective of disciplinary as well as interdisciplinary and generic skills that M.A./M.S. and Ph.D. students develop as a result of graduate education. Related objectives are to understand how disciplinary skills are applied by geography graduates once they enter the professional workforce in both academic and nonacademic professional settings, and to gauge the extent graduate programs are sufficiently preparing geography graduates for those careers. We begin by summarizing the research goals and design of EDGE, highlighting the roles and contributions of geographers and educational researchers, and noting the interplay and synergy between disciplinary and interdisciplinary methodologies and practices. To date, research has focused on: (1) assessing contemporary workforce competencies in professional geography and (2) examining the role of department climate and culture on student experience and faculty development within masters and doctoral programs. Although the EDGE research efforts are still underway, we present some preliminary research findings and discuss the implications of those outcomes for professional development in geography and related social and environmental sciences. Also discussed is the complementary nature of disciplinebased and interdisciplinary professional development efforts.

The purpose of this paper is an investigation into the experiences of professional development of human resource (HR) practitioners in the North of Scotland, and the use of non-formal learning in that development.

In-depth semi-structured interviews from a purposively selected sample of HR practitioners were conducted. Data from these interviews was analysed on a phenomenographic basis, to discover the qualitatively different ways in which HR practitioners describe, experience, understand and analyse their professional development and the use of non-formal learning in that development.

What emerged from the analysis were two sets of categories of description, one for each of the phenomena. An outcome space for each of the phenomena emerged, illustrating the hierarchical relationship within each set of categories of description as well as the dimensions of variation relating to the phenomena. These outcome spaces represent the collective experience of the practitioners on the subjects of professional development and non-formal learning.

Sample size and the specific geographical area are acknowledged as limitations. Another factor which may be considered a limitation is that the author's position as an HR lecturer with a keen interest in the subject could lead to this being considered an “insider” study. All these factors are acknowledged. These have been mitigated against by the careful preparation undertaken during the research process which resulted from the author's awareness of these limitations.

This study has given a voice to the HR practitioners in the North of Scotland with regard to their experiences and attitudes towards their professional development and the role of non-formal learning in that development. This study gives employers, other practitioners and professional bodies an opportunity to learn from the practitioners themselves as to how they can help practitioners in terms of their development.

The purpose of the paper is to contribute to the conceptualization and discussion of professional competencies needed for supporting the development of the whole-school approach in school health promotion (SHP).

The paper is based on a conceptual synthesis of literature, guided by a theoretical perspective on health promotion agency and professional competencies to identify core competency domains and elements. This is followed by a discussion of focus, gaps and links in conceptualizations of competency domains and elements.

The synthesis identifies five core competency domains: policy-development; organizational development; professional development; development of students’ learning; and development of health promotion activities. Three critical gaps in the conceptualizations of competency domains and elements are identified and discussed: the downplay of the development of learning domain and the narrow focus on cognitive elements within it; the narrow focus on cognitive elements and technical-organizational elements in the development of HP activities domain; and the downplay of affective competency elements across domains.

The five competency domains may provide an overall guiding tool for professionals tasked with practice and competency development in SHP, and a point of departure for the development of conceptualizations of professional competencies in concrete practice contexts.

The paper delineates an overall professional competency model for SHP, discusses the specific demands on professional competencies within this field in relation to this model, and addresses three critical gaps in the conceptualizations of competency.

The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in South African accounting students’ perceptions of professional skills developed in an undergraduate accounting program. South Africa has a history of socio-economic inequality and racial injustice, leading to factors outside the classroom impacting educational outcomes. In particular, South African classes are heterogeneous, reflecting a diversity of race and language groups and students from differing schooling backgrounds. These differences necessitate differentiated instruction.

To explore for differences in perceptions, data were collected via questionnaires and differences between demographic variables such as school, race and language were considered, while controlling for gender. A focus group was also hosted to further explore findings.

Students from better quality schools agreed less strongly than those from poorer quality schools that the education program developed their professional skills. Students from better quality schools may have developed some of the professional skills during their schooling, requiring less to be developed at university. African students, though, agreed less strongly than white students from similar quality schools that they had developed professional skills. A focus group suggested that African students place less emphasis on professional skills development than on technical skills, given their lack of exposure to professional skills through mentors (parents, teachers, etc.) who never developed professional skills during their own compromised education under Apartheid.

Understanding the differences in the perceptions of professional skill development in a heterogeneous classroom can assist instructors in adopting differentiated instruction approaches to enable all students to develop professional skills. It could also assist future employers of these graduates to differentiate their development strategies during workplace training.