“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.