Growing the learning culture

Impact

Published
09/10/2025
Last updated
19/08/2026

Progress towards the Ambitions will impact on the growth of a learning culture in CLD and as a result positively influence planning, practice and performance. 

Overall, we will know that we have made a difference when the CLD sector is comprised of a confident and stable workforce which reflects the diverse communities of Scotland.

The growth of the learning culture will be assessed through analysis of progress towards the Ambitions outlined below. 

Integral

Professional learning and development is integral to CLD practice in all sectors and settings and is used creatively to enhance the quality and impact of practice.

This ambition relates to the following 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

Impact indicators

  1. Statutory CLD plans 2024-27 include clear outcomes and actions to support professional learning and development for CLD workforce in every local authority area.
  2. National, regional and local CLD providers and support agencies are providing relevant and accessible professional learning opportunities.
  3. The ambitions and framework for action in Growing the Learning Culture (2024) are being widely used by CLD providers and partnerships to plan, enhance and evaluate progress with professional development.
  4. CLD providers, partnerships and agencies contribute to the development of a national CLD Workforce Development Plan that reflects the recommendations of the Independent Review of CLD (2024) and is driving improved quality for practitioners and positive impacts on learners. (Review Recommendation).


Commitment

Practitioners, managers and employers in CLD commit themselves to professional development.

This ambition relates to the following 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

Impact indicators

  1. Practitioners from all sectors and settings are planning their own professional development and taking part in a minimum of 35 hours of high-quality professional learning per year (pro rata).
  2. New Standards Council members are taking part in the Professional Induction Programme and are
    developing their own professional learning plans.
  3. Increasing numbers of practitioners from all sectors and settings are registered members of the Standards Council and are using the CLD Competences to reflect on and develop their own practice.

Shared

We share our professional learning to develop the CLD field of practice as a whole.

This ambition relates to the following key actions:

  1. Support reflective practice and practitioners’ learning journeys.
  2. Promote wider engagement with the learning culture and a stronger professional identity.
  3. Enhance the quality of professional learning

Impact indicators

  1. Practitioners and providers are working in partnership to develop and share effective CLD professional learning.
  2. Mutual learning exchanges with other professionals, including teachers and social workers, are being built into CPD requirements for CLD practitioners. (Review Recommendation).
  3. Regional CLD CPD Networks are well supported by providers and practitioners and are offering opportunities for effective professional learning.

Valued

The professional learning and development of all CLD practitioners, paid and unpaid, part-time and full-time, with and without qualifications, is valued and supported.

This ambition relates to the following 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

Impact indicators

  1. Professional learning outcomes and actions in Statutory CLD plans are being implemented and progress is being evaluated and reported on.
  2. CLD providers are gathering and sharing better data on the impacts of professional learning which is informing workforce planning. (Review Recommendation)

Equitable

Fair, affordable and equitable access to professional CLD qualifications and learning infrastructure enables everyone to access learning pathways.

This ambition relates to the following key actions:

  1. Support reflective practice and practitioners’ learning journeys
  2. Promote wider engagement with the learning culture and a stronger professional identity

Impact indicators

  1. National, regional and local CLD employers, agencies and partnerships are taking active steps to address barriers to participation in their professional learning offers.
  2. All CLD practitioners, including volunteers, have access to relevant, high-quality professional learning opportunities provided by their employers.
  3. Learning providers and employers are taking active steps to encourage more people of colour to become CLD practitioners and progress in their CLD careers (Review Recommendation)
  4. Good quality online learning – integrated with in-person learning and aligned with the CLD competency framework – is increasing the opportunities for CLD practitioners to access the professional learning and communities of practice that they need.