Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes ways of designing and implementing continuing professional development (CPD) that relate to professionals within an organisational context. It aims to focus directly upon individual practitioners. Such a strategy is based upon a belief that personal qualities, personal experiences and personal learning styles affect the enactment of practice and therefore should be taken into account in devising a CPD agenda. The acceptance of this ideal has led to the flourishing of CPD provision in recent years and this in its turn makes it possible to shift the debate on to other ground. The view that binds this collection together is that CPD should not go on separately from examinations of practice. The generality of the term CPD reflects a major concern of the collection to discuss general issues relating to the design and implementation of professional development.