Types of membership

The system is registering practitioners not qualifications therefore there must be evidence of a practice element in the requirement for registration in the Member category. However the CLD Standards Council is convinced that learning and professional development does not stop with the achievement of an approved degree level qualification. Professional community learning and development practitioners will grow in skills, confidence and understanding as they practice their craft and reflect on that practice with the underpinning knowledge that they have and within the developmental frameworks of the competences for community learning and development, the values and principles, the ethical standards and a commitment to professional learning.

This is particularly important in the practitioner’s first post graduate position, whether paid or voluntary. This is where supported induction, professional challenge and exposure to continuing professional development opportunities will support how the practitioner approaches their work and represents their profession and will provide the opportunity to evidence the practitioner’s competence in real time, real world situations. This is why the Registered Member category of the registration system requires the practice element, to evidence the demonstration of competence and in particular the commitment to professional learning.

The bar for Membership of this professional organisation has been set clearly – and set high from the outset. We recognise that this means that the process for registration will be somewhat more complex in that it will require verification of those commitments, but in our view, supporting people through the process is preferable to lowering the bar. This is a long term consideration and relates to the issue of parity of esteem with other professions as described below. The CLD Standards Council, through the development of this registration system, the competences for CLD, the code of ethics, the professional learning strategy and the i-develop service is actively putting in place the building blocks of a CLD profession that will be recognised for the value base and commitment of practitioners and for the delivery of high quality learning and development opportunities.