Framework for action

The original strategy gave the impetus for development of a learning culture in CLD. The growth of the learning culture is a continuing process, requiring ongoing participation, support and investment from all stakeholders including practitioners, employers, learning providers, national organisations and CLD Standards Council. 

Key Actions

1. Embed workforce and professional development in CLD partnerships and planning.
2. Support reflective practice and practitioners’ learning journeys
3. Promote wider engagement with the learning culture and a stronger professional identity
4. Enhance the quality of professional learning 

Key Action Context

The Statutory Regulations for CLD (2013) require local authorities to have a CLD plan for how they will work with their partners over the following three years to secure CLD provision, based on the needs of communities and learners. Workforce development should be a key element of those CLD plans.

Local authorities and their CLD partners are encouraged to build on the work of continuing professional development (CPD) partnerships that have grown across sectors and local authority boundaries. As of 2024, There are 5 regional CLD CPD Networks across Scotland.

One of the key themes of the Independent Review of Community Learning and Development (2024) was to consider actions to make sure that Scotland has ‘a strong and suitably professionalised CLD workforce equipped to deliver high quality outcomes for learners.’

The review reports recommends (5.2) that The CLD Standards Council should lead work to develop a national CLD Workforce Plan. 

Key Action 2: Support reflective practice and practitioners’ learning journeys 

By sharing knowledge from practice, research and experience, CLD practitioners can create their own learning journeys. Collaborative learning by CLD practitioners will be encouraged through supporting access to a range of networks and platforms.  

The Standards Council will continue to lead development of the framework, working closely with Education Scotland and other partners. Employers and partnerships will have a key role in supporting practitioners to shape their own professional learning, and to allocate sufficient time for this as a recognised part of their workload. 

CLD providers can ensure the quality of their support for professional development by using the Approvals suite including Developmental and Standards Mark approval, and using the Standards to review progress. 

Providers of CLD learning opportunities, including universities and colleges, will support course participants to become reflective practitioners. This will enable continuity in the professional learning journey from initial training to lead roles within the profession. 

The development of capacity for leadership should be supported at all stages of the practitioner learning journey. 

Key Action 3: Promote wider engagement with the learning culture and a stronger professional identity 

 “Shaped by the views and experiences of a wide range of CLD practitioners, the CLD registration scheme will continue the culture of dialogue and debate, championing a shared sense of identity amongst practitioners, providing a national voice for the sector, and reaffirming the importance of CLD in Scotland.” (CLD Standards Council) 

The Registration scheme links individual practitioners to the CLD profession as a community of practice. As individual practitioners make their commitment to ongoing professional development as one of the requirements for registration, this creates a legitimate expectation that employers provide support for the professional development to happen. 

CLD practitioners are making an impact in an ever-more diverse range of settings. Often their work is not described as CLD. The diversity marks positive recognition of the relevance of the competences CLD practitioners bring; the learning culture of the CLD profession must embrace the strength of this diversity as the means to reframe and strengthen our professional identity. 

Key Action 4: Enhance the quality of professional learning 

A quality framework that focuses on developing:

• Shared vision, enabling structures;
• Supportive culture, empowering management;
• Motivated workforce, enhanced learning
• A learning organisation. 

Practitioners, managers, employers, national organisations and policy makers are encouraged to use the framework as a tool for reflection, review, improvement and self-evaluation.