Archaeological Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
CPD
is the process by which individuals can develop their vocational skills
throughout their working lives. Most professional institutions, such
as the IfA, operate a CPD scheme. Some are mandatory requirements for membership, others are issued as guidelines of good practice.
The ADA's CPD scheme is a voluntary scheme at present and recommends undertaking at least 25 hours of CPD annually. It is based on a Personal Development Plan and a CPD log that can be downloaded as part of your portfolio. Your personal development plan is where you record your aims and objectives and the means by which you plan to achieve them. Your CPD log can be used to record the learning activities you undertake and can be used as evidence of your achievements.
The ADA's CPD scheme is a voluntary scheme at present and recommends undertaking at least 25 hours of CPD annually. It is based on a Personal Development Plan and a CPD log that can be downloaded as part of your portfolio. Your personal development plan is where you record your aims and objectives and the means by which you plan to achieve them. Your CPD log can be used to record the learning activities you undertake and can be used as evidence of your achievements.
Personal Development Plan:
This document outlines your learning targets. Set aside a decent amount of time, a stack of paper, and be honest with yourself. What are your short and long term goals? Where do you see yourself in two or five years time? Are you interested in Underwater Archaeology as a career or just for recreational enjoyment? Can you think of other things you might want to do or areas of responsibility in which you might want to engage? Do
you want the responsibility of becoming a Dive Supervisor? Act as
the Dive Medic or Chamber Operator? Are you specifically interested in
Archaeological Drawings or other dry aspects of underwater archaeology?
Are you equipped to do the tasks/roles you have just looked at? If not, where are the gaps? Identify your training needs in other words; whether they are directly related to underwater archaeology or not. ADA Instructors will help guide you through this process as you complete the Level 1 and 2 Courses and develop your training requirements with you. List the skills you think you need to acquire, and prioritise them so that they will fit within a planned time frame. Will they be met through formal or informal learning at work, by short courses or conferences, or do you need to do a further degree or alternative programme, such as the NVQs in Archaeological and Scientific Diving and the IfA's Archaeological Practice to achieve your goals?
Are you equipped to do the tasks/roles you have just looked at? If not, where are the gaps? Identify your training needs in other words; whether they are directly related to underwater archaeology or not. ADA Instructors will help guide you through this process as you complete the Level 1 and 2 Courses and develop your training requirements with you. List the skills you think you need to acquire, and prioritise them so that they will fit within a planned time frame. Will they be met through formal or informal learning at work, by short courses or conferences, or do you need to do a further degree or alternative programme, such as the NVQs in Archaeological and Scientific Diving and the IfA's Archaeological Practice to achieve your goals?
The targets need to be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Timetabled
The Institute for Archaeologists (IFA) has produced an excellent Personal Development Plan and it can be downloaded from their website by clicking here.
Your CPD Portfolio Record:
This is a record of how you met the targets set in the PDP with an assessment
of the skills you’ve acquired along the way. ADA Training certificates for the Level
1 and 2 Course outline the individual units you have achieved. On your
ADA portfolio CPD record, write down in as much detail as possible the
following information:
- The learning you achieved or training you have taken part in,
- How it relates to your PDP targets,
- How the learning process happened (was it a seminar, course, conference, etc),
- How much time it took, and
- What benefits you gained from the training?
What Counts as CPD?
Basically, any form of training or learning can count, so long as you can relate it to your overall goals set withinyour PDP. Theflexibility of the CPD Record and Portfolio mean these can easily be documented as you complete training.
Activities that do not relate to yourPDP should not go in or the whole process would become unfocused and cluttered. You may, forexample be attending a conference but only one session, or paper, is directly relevant to your PDPand so only that item or session should be recorded within your portfolio.
Examples include:
NOTE - The list of courses on the following pages are provided for reference only and although they are recommend ed by the Faculty we regret that we are unable to provide specific information on the suitability and/or facilities offered. Underwater Science Ltd takes no responsibility for content of external websites or the suitability of courses for specific individuals. If in doubt, please call the providing Institution.
Basically, any form of training or learning can count, so long as you can relate it to your overall goals set withinyour PDP. Theflexibility of the CPD Record and Portfolio mean these can easily be documented as you complete training.
Activities that do not relate to yourPDP should not go in or the whole process would become unfocused and cluttered. You may, forexample be attending a conference but only one session, or paper, is directly relevant to your PDPand so only that item or session should be recorded within your portfolio.
Examples include:
- Home-based learning
- Work-based learning
- In-house training courses
- External training courses
- Preparatory research
- Formal research
- Qualifications
- Conferences
NOTE - The list of courses on the following pages are provided for reference only and although they are recommend ed by the Faculty we regret that we are unable to provide specific information on the suitability and/or facilities offered. Underwater Science Ltd takes no responsibility for content of external websites or the suitability of courses for specific individuals. If in doubt, please call the providing Institution.