Am I a good (enough) trainer
This highly subjective question has received a lot of deliberation
within the Association as it influences our ability to recommend or
provide a reference for our members to the growing number of purchasers
asking us for advice. The answer to that question can be found in the
Standard for Learning Practitioners.
The Standard was specifically designed by a group of experts to
'define' and 'assess', as objectively as possible, the competence needed
to be a learning and development practitioner. Over 2,500 hours from a
collective experience of 200 years has resulted in the The Standard and
its 3 Principles:
-
Personal (ethical practice and professional
development)
-
Operational (consultancy, design,
development, delivery and evaluation of learning activities
-
Commercial (business planning, running and
performance measurement)
Before continuing can I go back to the question; "Am I a good (enough)
trainer". To answer this you need to prove to yourself that what YOU
DO is good enough, irrelevant of what YOU KNOW. The Standard is
based on 'evidencing the application of knowledge' it provides a
benchmark for practice, behaviour and action. When you 'meet the
Standard' whether in your own eyes or in the eyes of the
Association, then consider yourself 'good enough'.
The Standard is a competence framework that is freely available for all
practitioners to use as a development tool for their own development.
Take a look at the Standard and the Principles below. How do you fare as
a competent learning and development practitioner? As you will see, and
in our eyes this is crucial, there is more to being a good trainer than
standing in front of a group of delegates, delivering training and
getting positive feedback. Being a competent learning and development
practitioner, especially as a freelancer, involves a huge array of
competences and behaviours. This is one of the big mistakes that
practitioners make; they underestimate what will be required of them.
So when considering whether you are good you need to think about:
-
you as an individual
-
your training
-
your business
Are you ethical, a good communicator, generous with your time and
resources and involved in continuous professional development?
Do you conduct learning needs analysis, define and manage learning
environments, develop and delivery learning activities and programmes
and evaluate and report learning outcomes against learner objectives?
Have you conducted a business planning process, set up a legally
compliant business entity, defined your products, undertaken marketing,
sold your products, defined and evaluated the performance of your
business and maximised your assets?
Prove it to yourself.
But to go the next step and prove it to the Association and thereby gain
significant professional and business benefits you could become an
accredited member.
Certified Learning Practitioner
The Association, has its own accreditation process and its own
'accredited/approved member' status called Certified Learning
Practitioner (CLP). For members to reach CLP status they must go through
an accreditation. CLP is not a qualification however the process of
accreditation provides a huge amount of professional development and
this is seen as one of its key benefits. At the end of the accreditation
process, and having achieved CLP status; these members of the
Association know in their own eyes and those of the Association that
they are good enough.
The Standard
The Standard is a set of Principles:
to which a Learning Practitioner commits and
by which their competence and behaviours are
measured,
in respect to Personal, Operational and Commercial
undertakings.
The Principles
1. Personal Principle The Personal
Principle defines the ethos within which a professional Learning
Practitioner conducts themselves and thereby influences all other
aspects of their commercial and operational conduct.
1.1. The Learning Practitioner acts in a fitting
manner in all aspects of personal, operational and commercial
activities by:
1.1.1. Confirming they have read the Commitment
to Ethical Practice and continuously adheres to it.
1.1.2. Understanding and applying a code of
behaviour that encourages respect. 1.1.3.
Developing and maintaining relationships. 1.1.4.
Communicating effectively with others. 1.1.5.
Actively reviewing and regulating their personal impact in
relationships with others.
1.2. The Learning Practitioner demonstrates a
generosity of spirit by:
1.2.1. Promoting an ethos of innovation.
1.2.2. Sharing of learning and knowledge with others.
1.3. The Learning Practitioner actively engages in
continuing development by:
1.3.1. Undertaking and refining an appropriate
personal development planning process. 1.3.2.
Carrying out relevant activities to deliver the outcomes of the
plan. 1.3.3. Reviewing and evaluating the
outcomes of the plan.
2. Operational Principle
The Operational Principle underpins how a Learning Practitioner
understands the requirement of their role within a learning activity.
The Principle identifies how a Learning Practitioner may investigate,
develop, conduct and evaluate the learning activity, and where
appropriate to their role, support learners and clients along the way.
2.1. The Learning Practitioner is able to identify,
prepare for, develop and maintain an environment conducive to
learning by:
2.1.1. Identifying an appropriate environment
conducive to accessible and inclusive learning.
2.1.2. Preparing, developing and maintaining a safe, inclusive
and accessible environment conducive to learning.
2.2. The Learning Practitioner is able to identify,
prepare for, design and develop a learning activity/event/process
suitable to the needs of the client by:
2.2.1. Conducting appropriate and effective
consultancy with the client to accurately identify the
requirements of the client. 2.2.2. Drafting
objectives and content that accurately reflect client needs and
that can be evaluated to determine if the learning outcomes are
being met. 2.2.3. Designing and structuring
learning events which reflect good practice in how adults learn.
2.2.4. Selecting a variety of appropriate learning resources for
use within a specific learning environment.
2.3. The Learning Practitioner is able to support
the needs of all learners by:
2.3.1. Supporting the transfer of learning.
2.3.2. Helping individual and groups of learners to manage their
own learning.
2.4. The Learning Practitioner is able to conduct an
appropriate learning activity/event/process that is effective for
all learners by:
2.4.1. Facilitating the learning
activity/event/process in an effective, safe and timely way
using appropriate skills, transfer tools and methodologies.
2.4.2. Conducting relevant exercises, activities and practice
for learners.
2.5. The Learning Practitioner is able to plan for
and advise on good practice in identifying learner progress by:
2.5.1. Defining an appropriate mechanism within
which learner progress will be monitored and recorded against
defined objectives.
2.6 The Learning Practitioner is able to assess and
report learner progress by: 2.6.1. Accurately
monitoring and recording learner progress in meeting defined
objectives. 2.6.2. Monitoring and recording learner
participation and outcomes with appropriate feedback to client.
3. Commercial Principle
The Commercial Principle re-enforces the concept that the Learning
Practitioner is running a commercial entity under an appropriate model,
subject to the needs and wants of their client group. This Principle
helps to focus the Learning Practitioner on the administrative side of
‘behind the scene’ activities that when undertaken efficiently and
effectively can increase the success of the Learning Practitioner’s
commercial entity.
3.1. The Learning Practitioner has identified,
created and is running a sustainable commercial entity in the market
place, by:
3.1.1. Undertaking and refining an appropriate
commercial (business) planning process. 3.1.2.
Setting up and maintaining a commercial entity.
3.1.3. Setting up and maintaining a brand/commercial identity.
3.1.4. Complying with legal frameworks. 3.1.5.
Undertaking and refining a marketing planning process.
3.1.6. Marketing their commercial entity using a variety of
appropriate channels and media. 3.1.7. Specifying
and monitoring criteria by which commercial success will be
measured. 3.1.8. Monitoring and managing the
ongoing success of the commercial entity.
3.1.9. Monitoring and continuously updating the
assets of the commercial entity where appropriate to maintain
and improve quality.
The Accreditation process
The process of Accreditation has been developed specifically to
‘evidence the application of knowledge’. The Accreditation is
significantly evidence based in that a Candidate needs to present for
Validation and Assessment, examples of what they do rather than just
what they know.
Registration
Prior to registration, a prospective Candidate should review the
Standard to check their current level of fit against the Standard. A
prospective Candidate need not be a member of the Learning
Practitioners’ Association or registered on the TrainerBase.
A prospective Candidate will decide to register for the Certificate and
pay their fee (either in full or in stages).
After registration the Candidate will be asked to make a choice on
Certification route.
Certification choice
Within the Certification choice route the Candidate can choose which of
the Learning Practitioner roles of Certification that they wish to
pursue:
-
advisor (they only do consultancy) or
-
creator (they do consultancy and design of
learning activities) or
-
provider (they do consultancy, design and
delivery of learning activities) associate
model (they work for other training providers delivering to that
training providers clients) or direct model
(they have their own clients and deliver direct to that client's
people).
Commitment to Ethical Practice
A Candidate will receive an induction document containing all the
information required to proceed with their Accreditation. The first
requirement is to sign and return the Commitment to Ethical Practice. On
receipt of the Commitment by the Association the Candidate will be
identified as “Working towards CLP status”.
APL
The Candidate may wish to complete an APL matrix which may influence the
level of evidence requirements for the Candidate review of competence.
The APL route provides the Candidate with the ability to select
currently held ‘vocational’ qualifications and map these to the
Standard.
Evidence gathering
The Evidence gathering process will require the collection of a range of
confirmation of current activity to support the Principle Elements and
Components. The amount of evidence is based on the Scope of each
Component and the Scope value of each piece of evidence. Collection of
the evidence will be either:
Multi directional feedback
The Reference/Testimonial/Feedback requirement presents the member with
the need to supply feedback from:
-
suppliers and/or
-
clients and/or
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peers.
This should be in for form of a letter or email and describe the
Candidates engagement, demonstrating competence as a practitioner.
NOTE; it is acknowledged that a single document of evidence may
satisfy a number of Principle Element Components, however a piece of
evidence can only be used once.
Validation
Once all the Evidence has been gathered the Candidate will confirm that
the Evidence gathering process is complete and will be able to continue
on to Validation.
Validation is carried out by an Association approved Validator(s). The
Validator(s) will review Evidence and provide feedback to the Candidate.
Not all Evidence is required at this stage as Element 2.4 is evidenced
at Assessment stage.
It may be necessary for a Candidate to resubmit evidence that is deemed
to be of insufficient robustness. If development requirements are
identified, mentoring may be suggested.
As part of the Evidence Validation process, the Candidate is required to
provide an overview of the Learning Activity they propose to undertake
during Assessment.
Assessment
Once all Evidence has been gathered and any development undertaken, the
Candidate will be put forward for Assessment.
Assessment requires the submission of a Learning Activity Framework
which will be reviewed by an Association assigned Assessor. After
discussion with the Assessor on the feasibility of the Learning
Activity, the Candidate will be given an Assessment date. Assessment is
an observed learning activity followed by an interview. The Assessment
takes place in a controlled environment specifically set up to assess a
Candidate. Assessments cannot be undertaken within live environments.
Post Assessment Reflections
After successfully completing an Assessment the Candidate is required to
submit a Post Assessment Reflection. This is a short review of their
journey through the Accreditation process.
Sign Off
On completion of the final Assessment and receipt of their Post
Assessment Reflection, the Candidate’s Accreditation will be ratified by
the Association and if agreed will result in confirmation that the
Candidate meets the Standards and is granted Certified Learning
Practitioner status. The Candidate will be placed on the register of
Certified Learning Practitioners.
Re-Certification
CPD will be an essential element of re-Certification and records of CPD
activities can be maintained within a members’ profile (this facility is
currently available and will be enhanced). The CPD activities will need
to be broad in their type. Re-accreditation and ongoing CPD is a key
aspect of the status of CLP and seen as important by purchasers. The
Association itself will play a role in organising and/or signposting
these activities.
Glossary of terms
In the above description of the accreditation process a number of terms
have been used in a particular manner. These terms are defined in the
Glossary.
If there is anything else you would like to know about what the
Association is doing to benefit its members please feel free to contact us.
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