CPDs

[Odinn]

There are people on this site who aren't professionals in the industry. At least 5, given the number of votes for option 1).

Not sure how you work that out. While the IFA requires a CPD log and PDP now, not everyone is a member and not every organisation will actually have a CPD system in place. I can think of several that are highly unlikely to have anything of the sort based on my experiences with them in the past. Anyway, this does not mean that said voters are not professional archaeologists.

So, what's a CPD?

I suggest reading Vulpes' post, where they are busily demonstrating how clever they are, for an explanation of how the terminology has been incorrectly applied here, although just replying in the spirit and according to the intent of the poll might be more constructive. If you are not sure what CPD actually is, this Wikipedia article might be a good starting point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuing_...evelopment

And yes, I have my CPD log and PDP in place. They are evidence of my commitment to ensuring that my training is up-to-date. They also help me structure my training needs so that I make best use of training opportunities, and they are a stick with which to beat employers (especially those that want IFA members as employees) when I wish to go on training courses. It's all about making the system work for you!

[pdurdin]

Not sure how you work that out.

It was a snide remark made on the assumption that people who don't immediately recognise what CPD stands for might, like myself, not be professionals (Gilraen's post seemed to assume that everyone voting was a professional in the industry). And yes, I'd missed Vulpes's post.

Thank you! Now I know what "a CPD" is. Of course, as a non-professional I now also see that it doesn't exactly apply to me.

[BAJR]

Indeed, one has to ask - does filling in your little CPD log make you a professional? If attending lectures had been the criteria for ability, then I would have had several degrees in a multitude of subjects. Competence is based on recognised and validated skills.
Turning up to lectures and conferences count towards my CPD. tick... learning a new computer GIS program counts... tick... reading latest books on Iron AGe settlement patterns and Soil taphonomy in field systems ... tick. What that does not tell anyone is that I

a) Listened to the speakers b) am any good at the GIS system c) understood the books

It is in effect a self assessment, one that makes you consider (like a PDP - Personal Development Plan) the way you are going, and what you feel you are learning. It is like playing yourself at chess and cheating... pointless.

CPD is a useful pointer about what you are doing, but don't mistake it for an external credential. I keep my CPD in my head, as (imho) the only person it is useful to, is myself, and there is no point lying to myself as I already know I am ! To an employer I would want a lot more than a CPD log to see that I could survey a landscape. I would want to see evidence.

So... perhaps it is me, but CPD = good BUT does it make you professional? :0 nope

[P Prentice]

i dont think cpd is supposed to make you a professional, i think it is a mechanism for spotting the feckless and the lazy whilst spotlighting the ambitious and the nerdy

[kevin wooldridge]

Haven't yet been asked by the IfA to produce evidence of my PDP and CDP log (which they say they could demand at any time to ensure IfA members are pursuing continued professional development and not sitting on their laurels) , but adapted my CV a few years back to fit with their suggested format.....

...of course as a jobbing peripatetic archaeologist it is difficult to have a realistic PDP (beyond 'try and work as often as possible'), but it's relatively simple to keep both an updated CV and some vestige of ambition so I don't see its worth making a great fuss about....Is it possible to be feckless, lazy, ambitious and nerdy? Yeah.....!!

[the invisible man]

Indeed, it is not necessary to attend lectures or go on training courses to participate in CPD (although a good idea to do so, if available, accessible and appropriate). Learning new stuff at work, reading journals and so on i.e. keeping yourself up to date, is all CPD. In all probabilty many, if not most, are doing that anyway. The little forms and PDPs, gawd 'elp us, produced and required by the IfA (and corresponding bodies in other walks of life) are merely a record of what you're probably doing anyway. So in my humble (and having seen it all before for some years in another walk) yes, CPD as such is a Good Thing - not a definitin of, but a prerequisite, of professionalism: the ballyhoo, paperwork and formalism of it is a needless waste of time, yet more hoop-jumping.

[P Prentice]

so CPD is the stuff you need to do to learn your trade (as an archaeologist) and the PDP is only of use if you are employed. from the lofty heights of my ambition my own fecklessness could easily be masked in my imaginative log
i am no more peripatetic than i am jobbing but i have been asked to submit my log and i resent it because it is utterly meaningless

[vulpes]

I suggest reading Vulpes' post, where they are busily demonstrating how clever they are

Really, thought I was just being helpful by clarifying some terminology. But then perhaps I need a bit more CPD to catch up with you Odinnnn

[vulpes]

Is it possible to be feckless, lazy, ambitious and nerdy?

Well I'm glad you said it first Kevin

[BAJR]

I feel like living proof.

So it seems that CPD is what most of us are doing already, but we should write it down so others can see that we are doing stuff as well. Though of course I could lie and say I have read several books yesterday... and snuck into the back of several conferences, you just did not see me.

Within a closed working environment it may be very useful - I suspect it is us peripatetics and self employeds that find it pointless. AS we already know what we are doing. :face-huh:

Interesting concepts here.