TECHNOLOGY is fast changing before we could even realize it. And we are deluged with so much information and demands from clients and the workplace, we have to find ways to maximize learning. The need to improve competencies cannot be overemphasized and learning should not be confined to the four walls of a seminar room or classroom. We need to develop ways to teach or be taught.
I do not have to define here what continuing professional development (CPD) is because I am pretty sure almost everybody knows what it is. But to define it in the shortest way—it is a form of systematic method of learning to help learners grow and cope in a rapidly changing environment.
The name is used to be continuing professional education, but with Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Resolution 2013-774, it has been named as continuing professional development. The ultimate goal of CPD is to bridge the gap between what competence is needed in a profession and the knowledge and skills already possessed by a professional through continuous education.
Continuous development does not have to be in the form of a formal structured live seminar but it can be informal and self-directed. Self-directed trainings may include trainings through the Internet or online trainings, company-sponsored trainings, or any form of training where the learner or an institution/company manage their own training programs from the content to the time of the learning activity, including the resource persons or resource materials to be used and can have these programs accredited by the CPD Council of the PRC (see PRC Resolution 2013-774).
Training and development processes can be in two dimensions—one for the degree of formality and the other for the balance between self-directed and other-directed learning. The approach could either be formal or informal for both learnings (source: managementhelp.com, Ways to Look at Training and Development Processes by Carter McNamara). If one needs certificate for CPD accreditation, the way to go is always the formal one. However informal, self-directed learning according to the same article proved to be “deeper and richer” for an individual since it is learned in a natural way and through actual experience in one’s job. Examples are brainstorming, discussions/meetings about a certain topic in a group—either in the office or outside of the office, personal research through books, newspaper articles, professional journals, videos, Internet and Web discussions of certain topics with others of the same interests.
However, if one needs to learn a specific knowledge and skill, with a goal to achieve in mind and with a timeline to accomplish it, a more formal approach is needed, and would be, more effective.
Informal self-directed training is for the more experienced one, but for the new learners, a more structured formal approach is more applicable. The informal learning activity does not need certification in order to learn—but CPD does not just mean earning a diploma and certification alone.
The CPD units a professional must earn are needed to prove that the learner had undergone trainings to make him competent to practice his profession. But a professional who is hungry for knowledge and skills does not just rely on formal trainings and seminars to be competent. He needs to complement these trainings with the informal ones to suit his very needs for such knowledge and skills.
One may have earned those CPD units required by the profession but if he wants “to go one more mile” or “ ahead of the pack”, an informal learning is always the best path to take. But this requires discipline and real effort to learn. For instance, the professional faced with a certain business case in the office, cannot wait for a seminar to learn more about the case topic—he will most likely research in the Internet or through books and journals, consult with his colleagues, discussed with the experts, join a webinar on the discussion of the same topics, etc. And through all these he learns new knowledge and skills related to his profession. Informal trainings can thus be a richer and more relevant way to obtain competence.
However, the good thing about requiring professionals for CPD units, is that professionals are forced to learn. In the past, when no CPD units are required and because of work demands, a professional would not have time to improve his learning. This is particularly true for individual professional practitioners or the self-employed, since those employed in a company or institution will likely have structured learning from their human resources departments. The one truly benefited by the requirements for CPD units are the individual practitioners.
CPD is here to stay—and as the years passed by we witnessed how it improves and how it greatly helps not only the professionals but also the nonprofessionals. In many seminars I attended, there were participants who are not professionals but come from different sectors—businessmen, teachers, executives, consultants even the retirees who need to update their knowledge.
Continuous professional development is not only a must but a lifelong learning support needed in this rapidly changing global environment.
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Wilma Miranda is the chairman of the Media Affairs Committee of Finex, managing partner of Inventor, Miranda & Associates, CPAs and Treasurer of KPS Outsourcing Inc. The opinions expressed herein are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of these institutions.