WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.740 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. I'm your host. 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:05.700 And today we are we're tackling a subject that 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:08.580 I think, well, it haunts a lot of us. Haunts 00:00:08.580 --> 00:00:10.519 is a good word for it. It's that thing that's 00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:12.480 always lurking in your inbox. You know, the one 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:15.859 you get that email from H .R. or maybe a terrifying 00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:18.739 notification from a state licensing board. Oh, 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:21.100 yeah. The ones in all caps. The all caps ones. 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:23.339 And the subject line is always something like 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:26.440 action required. Compliance deadline approaching. 00:00:27.059 --> 00:00:30.160 You open it and it says you have like. 48 hours 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.539 to complete your mandatory training units. And 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:35.700 you feel that immediate physical sinking feeling, 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:38.640 the universal dread of the modern professional, 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:42.060 the ticking clock of compliance. Exactly. And 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:44.420 the first reaction is just a groan. Right. You 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:46.740 picture stale coffee, a windowless conference 00:00:46.740 --> 00:00:49.479 room, maybe a webinar that you just play on mute 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:51.439 while you do other work. We've all done that. 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:54.020 We have. It feels like a tax on your time. Just 00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:57.259 this thing you have to endure. But today. We're 00:00:57.259 --> 00:00:58.840 going to try to flip that script a little bit. 00:00:58.899 --> 00:01:01.119 We've got a stack of research here that suggests 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:03.060 this whole thing isn't just about ticking a box 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:05.260 so you don't get fired. No, it's something much 00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:07.560 bigger. We're looking at what some sources are 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:10.079 calling the actual engine of career survival. 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:11.819 We're talking about professional development 00:01:11.819 --> 00:01:15.819 or, you know, PD. It's a huge topic. And frankly, 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:18.620 it's one that's often really misunderstood. I 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:21.640 think we tend to view it as this bureaucratic 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:24.060 hoop we have to jump through. Right. But the 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:26.519 sources we have today, they paint a very, very 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:29.700 different picture. They argue that PD is maybe 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:32.659 the only thing standing between us and obsolescence. 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:35.239 Obsolescence. That's a strong word. I mean, that's 00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:37.579 terrifying. It is. So we're not just talking 00:01:37.579 --> 00:01:39.700 about learning to earn, which is a catchy phrase 00:01:39.700 --> 00:01:42.099 the source uses. We're talking about maintaining 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:44.980 your relevance in a world that is actively trying 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:48.069 to leave you behind. Precisely. And to really 00:01:48.069 --> 00:01:50.349 get our heads around that, we have to start with 00:01:50.349 --> 00:01:52.590 some definitions. Because professional development 00:01:52.590 --> 00:01:54.349 is one of those terms that we all throw around 00:01:54.349 --> 00:01:56.689 without really knowing what it means. Okay, so 00:01:56.689 --> 00:01:59.049 let's dig into the source material. It defines 00:01:59.049 --> 00:02:03.730 PD as, and I'm quoting here, learning to earn 00:02:03.730 --> 00:02:06.989 or maintain professional credentials. Which is... 00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:11.139 So dry. It's incredibly dry. It feels like it 00:02:11.139 --> 00:02:13.780 misses the point because the text highlights 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:15.620 a specific word that I think we need to really 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:19.560 dwell on. The word is praxis. Yes, praxis. It's 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:22.300 a concept that goes way back to, I mean, ancient 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:25.340 philosophy, Aristotle and all that. But in the 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:28.939 context of modern work, it's absolutely critical. 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:31.460 So what does it mean here? The source defines 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:35.139 it as the bridge, the bridge between theoretical. 00:02:36.259 --> 00:02:38.979 academic knowledge. The stuff you learn in college. 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:41.680 Right. The abstract concepts. The bridge between 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:45.919 that and practical job applicable skills. The 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:47.919 stuff you actually need to do when you show up 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:49.259 on Monday morning. Okay, let's stop there for 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:51.960 a second. The bridge. I feel like for most people 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:54.080 that bridge is out. You know, you go to university, 00:02:54.259 --> 00:02:55.800 you learn a bunch of theory, and then you get 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:57.879 your first job and you have this horrifying realization 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:00.039 that you have no idea how to actually do anything. 00:03:00.340 --> 00:03:02.699 That's exactly the gap Praxis is supposed to 00:03:02.699 --> 00:03:05.780 fill. Think about it this way. A university education, 00:03:06.139 --> 00:03:07.900 it teaches you the what and the why. It gives 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:10.120 you the abstract framework for your field. The 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:13.360 big picture. The big picture. But the how the 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.860 messy, real -world application where things don't 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:18.800 go according to the textbook, where people are 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.900 unpredictable and the data is incomplete, that's 00:03:21.900 --> 00:03:24.060 praxis. So it's more than just practice, then. 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:27.360 Oh, much more. It's not just doing. It's a cycle. 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:30.400 You take a theory, you try to apply it, you see 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:33.400 what happens, maybe you fail spectacularly, and 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:35.580 then you reflect on that result, and you use 00:03:35.580 --> 00:03:37.400 that reflection to refine your understanding 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:39.699 of the theory. So it's active. It's not about 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:42.259 just reading a manual or sitting through a lecture. 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:44.939 No, it's the complete opposite of passive learning. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:48.180 And this is where the source draws a really interesting 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:51.629 line in the sand. It makes a point to distinguish 00:03:51.629 --> 00:03:54.469 professional development from two other big buckets 00:03:54.469 --> 00:03:56.569 of learning that we often confuse it with. Which 00:03:56.569 --> 00:03:59.610 are? Vocational education and, on the other end, 00:03:59.689 --> 00:04:02.189 traditional liberal arts. I feel like those get 00:04:02.189 --> 00:04:04.169 mashed together all the time, especially in public 00:04:04.169 --> 00:04:06.449 discourse. How does the source actually separate 00:04:06.449 --> 00:04:08.310 them? Well, you can think of it like a spectrum. 00:04:08.430 --> 00:04:11.409 On one end, you have vocational education that's 00:04:11.409 --> 00:04:14.090 usually very specific, very task -oriented. It's 00:04:14.090 --> 00:04:16.930 trade -based skills. Like welding or plumbing. 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:20.389 Exactly. You learn to weld a specific type of 00:04:20.389 --> 00:04:23.930 joint or you learn to repair a specific model 00:04:23.930 --> 00:04:27.970 of HVAC system. It's highly practical, super 00:04:27.970 --> 00:04:30.769 valuable, but it's often limited in scope to 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:33.529 the task right in front of you. Okay. Makes sense. 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:35.689 So what's on the other end of the spectrum? On 00:04:35.689 --> 00:04:38.430 the far other end, you have the traditional liberal 00:04:38.430 --> 00:04:41.569 arts. Think philosophy, pure mathematics, art 00:04:41.569 --> 00:04:44.410 history. This is about critical thinking, broad 00:04:44.410 --> 00:04:46.689 theories, what they used to call the life of 00:04:46.689 --> 00:04:49.220 the mind. It teaches you how to think. It teaches 00:04:49.220 --> 00:04:51.240 you how to think, but it doesn't necessarily 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:53.379 teach you how to file a tax return for a small 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:55.720 business or manage a patient's medication chart. 00:04:55.860 --> 00:04:57.620 And professional development is supposed to be 00:04:57.620 --> 00:05:00.300 in the middle of those two. It occupies the sweet 00:05:00.300 --> 00:05:02.620 spot. It's meant to take the intellectual rigor 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:06.439 of the liberal arts, the theory, the why, and 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:08.600 demand the practical, real -world application 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:11.000 of vocational training. It's the synthesis of 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:13.850 the two. And the goal of all this, this praxis, 00:05:13.949 --> 00:05:16.470 is to create what the source keeps calling an 00:05:16.470 --> 00:05:19.110 autonomous professional. That phrase pops up 00:05:19.110 --> 00:05:21.209 again and again in the notes, autonomous professional. 00:05:21.649 --> 00:05:24.910 It sounds a bit like a rank in a sci -fi hierarchy 00:05:24.910 --> 00:05:27.089 or something, but I'm guessing it just means 00:05:27.089 --> 00:05:30.069 someone we trust to work without a babysitter. 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:32.209 That's a fair assessment, but I think it's even 00:05:32.209 --> 00:05:34.610 deeper than that. Think about the fundamental 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:36.370 difference between a student and a professional. 00:05:36.810 --> 00:05:39.810 A student is supervised. The student's work is 00:05:39.810 --> 00:05:42.329 checked. Their mistakes are usually caught by 00:05:42.329 --> 00:05:44.970 a professor and the stakes are, you know, a bad 00:05:44.970 --> 00:05:47.889 grade. Right. Low stakes. An autonomous professional 00:05:47.889 --> 00:05:50.569 operates alone. They have to make high stakes 00:05:50.569 --> 00:05:53.149 decisions, often with incomplete information, 00:05:53.389 --> 00:05:55.889 under pressure based entirely on their own judgment. 00:05:56.589 --> 00:05:59.310 PD is the process that gets you there and maybe 00:05:59.310 --> 00:06:01.430 more importantly, keeps you there. So the stakes 00:06:01.430 --> 00:06:04.050 are actually incredibly high. Incredibly high. 00:06:04.170 --> 00:06:06.269 And that's why the World Bank, which is one of 00:06:06.269 --> 00:06:09.000 our... major sources for this deep dive, calls 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.699 this the absolute key to the future of work. 00:06:12.339 --> 00:06:14.459 They're just talking about your individual career 00:06:14.459 --> 00:06:16.639 path. They're talking about the stability of 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.480 the entire global labor market. Which is a perfect 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:22.519 transition to the who. Who is actually doing 00:06:22.519 --> 00:06:25.079 all this? Because when I think of PD, I admit 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:27.920 my brain defaults to that corporate stereotype. 00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:30.319 You know, a guy in a cubicle learning how to 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:32.519 use the new version of Microsoft Excel. Right, 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:35.660 the mandatory software update training. Exactly. 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:38.959 But the list of participants in the source material 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:42.459 is way, way broader than that. It's massive. 00:06:42.660 --> 00:06:46.199 The source lists military officers, non -commissioned 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:48.579 officers, health care professionals of all kinds, 00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:51.879 architects, lawyers, accountants, engineers, 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:54.920 and teachers. I mean, that covers a huge swath 00:06:54.920 --> 00:06:56.740 of the economy. The military one really stood 00:06:56.740 --> 00:06:58.660 out to me. You just don't often equate soldier 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:01.439 with professional development seminar. But think 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.209 about the complexity of modern warfare. It's 00:07:04.209 --> 00:07:06.189 not just about physical fitness and marksmanship 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:09.149 anymore. Not at all. It's strategy. It's cybersecurity. 00:07:09.649 --> 00:07:12.230 It's understanding complex geopolitical contexts. 00:07:12.529 --> 00:07:15.029 It's learning how to operate incredibly sophisticated 00:07:15.029 --> 00:07:17.889 technology. A noncommissioned officer in the 00:07:17.889 --> 00:07:19.870 field has to make split -second decisions that 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:22.610 can have massive strategic consequences. That 00:07:22.610 --> 00:07:25.509 requires intense, ongoing education. That's a 00:07:25.509 --> 00:07:27.550 really good point. And architects, too. I mean, 00:07:27.550 --> 00:07:30.490 the materials they use, the building codes, the 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:32.589 environmental regulations, that's all changing 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:35.850 constantly. It's a constant churn. If an architect 00:07:35.850 --> 00:07:38.629 isn't up to date, buildings could literally fall 00:07:38.629 --> 00:07:41.110 down. It's not an exaggeration. It makes sense. 00:07:41.410 --> 00:07:44.339 But let's look at the motivation. Why are all 00:07:44.339 --> 00:07:46.360 these different people, from the architects to 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:48.759 the nurses to the sergeants, why are they actually 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:51.019 doing this? I know we joked about the threatening 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:53.740 HR email, but is it really just about compliance? 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:56.420 Well, the source breaks the motivation down into 00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:58.120 two categories, which I found really interesting. 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:00.920 It calls them the practical and the noble. The 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:02.819 practical and the noble, okay. On the practical 00:08:02.819 --> 00:08:05.800 side, yes, it's exactly what you'd expect. It's 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:07.579 career progression. You want a raise, you want 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:09.819 that promotion, or in many cases, you simply 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:11.899 want to keep your license to practice. It's the 00:08:11.899 --> 00:08:15.060 stick approach. Do this or you can't work. Exactly. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:18.000 It's the bare minimum requirement. But the noble 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:22.019 side is fascinating. The source explicitly mentions 00:08:22.019 --> 00:08:25.540 a sense of moral obligation. Moral obligation. 00:08:25.699 --> 00:08:29.120 That feels heavy. I mean, does an accountant 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:31.819 really feel a moral obligation to learn the new 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:34.899 tax code? I would argue they should. If they 00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:36.860 get it wrong, their client could lose their business 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:39.460 or their house. But let's look at the really 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:42.700 high stakes professions. Medicine, engineering, 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:45.820 structural safety. OK, yes. If a doctor decides 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:48.679 they're done learning at age 30 and they're still 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:51.080 practicing at age 50 using 20 -year -old medical 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:53.620 knowledge, they could be causing actual harm 00:08:53.620 --> 00:08:56.399 to patients without even realizing it. New drugs, 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:59.519 new diagnostic tools, new understandings of disease. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:02.940 They're missing all of it. So the moral obligation 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:05.740 isn't to your boss or to the licensing board. 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:09.620 It's to the public. It's a duty of care. When 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:11.820 you call yourself a professional with a capital 00:09:11.820 --> 00:09:14.879 P, you are making an implicit promise to society 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.440 that you know what you're doing right now, not 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:19.480 just what you knew the day you graduated. And 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:21.220 that's why the source connects it to this idea 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:23.600 of lifelong learning. It's not a hobby. It's 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:25.620 not something you do if you feel like it. It's 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:28.240 an ethical requirement of the job itself. That's 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.240 the argument. Yes. That really puts a different 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.879 spin on it. It's less HR is annoying me and more 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.139 I have a professional duty to ensure I don't 00:09:36.139 --> 00:09:38.299 accidentally hurt someone with my outdated knowledge. 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:42.759 Precisely. So when did this all start? Because 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:45.539 this can't have been the standard forever. The 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:47.399 source mentions that for a long time, this kind 00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:49.860 of ongoing learning wasn't really formalized. 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.100 It pinpoints the 1960s in the United States as 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.240 a major turning point specifically for school 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.399 staff. Right. For teachers. Why? The 60s. What 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:01.399 was happening then that sparked this? The 1960s 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:03.980 were a period of just massive social and structural 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:06.559 upheaval. You had the civil rights movement demanding 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.399 changes to curriculum and school access. You 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:12.139 had the Cold War and the space race, which put 00:10:12.139 --> 00:10:15.080 a huge new emphasis on science and math education. 00:10:15.419 --> 00:10:18.059 Sputnik. Sputnik was a huge catalyst. Suddenly, 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.179 there was a national panic that American students 00:10:20.179 --> 00:10:22.240 were falling behind. On top of that, you have 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.360 the very beginnings of the information age. The 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:26.519 fundamental realization hit that the world was 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:32.289 changing. So the old model of learn once, work 00:10:32.289 --> 00:10:34.990 forever was breaking. It completely shattered. 00:10:35.129 --> 00:10:38.210 Before that, teaching, and frankly, many other 00:10:38.210 --> 00:10:41.980 jobs, was viewed as a... Somewhat static craft. 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:44.000 You learn how to do it, you got your certificate, 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:46.200 and then you just practice that craft for 40 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:48.320 years. You taught the same lesson plan every 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:52.179 year. Pretty much. But in the 60s, with all these 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:54.980 new pedagogical theories and a rapidly changing 00:10:54.980 --> 00:10:57.960 society, there was this dawning awareness that 00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:00.960 teaching had to evolve. If the world outside 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:03.679 the classroom changes, the classroom itself must 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:06.320 change. And if the classroom has to change, then 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:09.000 the teacher must keep learning. And that logic, 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:11.690 it just... spread from teaching to almost every 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:13.850 other profession. It became the new paradigm. 00:11:14.090 --> 00:11:16.230 And now we're all living in the result of that 00:11:16.230 --> 00:11:18.789 shift, a world where everyone is constantly expected 00:11:18.789 --> 00:11:22.169 to be learning. But here's where I start to get 00:11:22.169 --> 00:11:24.450 a little skeptical. The way we measure all this 00:11:24.450 --> 00:11:27.250 learning seems, well, it seems like a complete 00:11:27.250 --> 00:11:29.509 and utter mess. It is a complex landscape, to 00:11:29.509 --> 00:11:32.789 put it mildly. Complex is a very diplomatic word. 00:11:32.929 --> 00:11:35.350 I was looking at the breakdown of the state requirements 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:38.029 for teachers in the U .S. and it's all over the 00:11:38.029 --> 00:11:41.009 map. It's just this alphabet soup of acronyms 00:11:41.009 --> 00:11:44.070 and seemingly random numbers. It really highlights 00:11:44.070 --> 00:11:48.309 how incredibly difficult it is to quantify knowledge 00:11:48.309 --> 00:11:51.330 or learning. What do you put a number on that? 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:53.370 Well, let's look at the data points because it's 00:11:53.370 --> 00:11:55.049 kind of amazing. If you're a teacher in Arkansas, 00:11:55.370 --> 00:11:58.830 the source says you need 60 hours of documented 00:11:58.830 --> 00:12:00.909 professional development activities annually. 00:12:01.269 --> 00:12:04.750 60 hours. 60 hours. That is a week and a half 00:12:04.750 --> 00:12:07.370 of full -time work. Every single year, just sitting 00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:09.409 and training, that's a huge time commitment. 00:12:09.549 --> 00:12:11.470 It's a significant burden on their time. Yeah. 00:12:11.509 --> 00:12:13.370 And it suggests that the philosophy in Arkansas 00:12:13.370 --> 00:12:17.000 is to equate time spent with value gained. Which 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:18.879 is a questionable assumption. It is. But then 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:21.480 you look next door, figuratively, to Indiana. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.039 They don't count hours. They count something 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:26.139 called continuing renewal units or CRUs. And 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:29.200 you need 90 of them per year. 90 CRU. Now, I 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.220 have absolutely no idea what the exchange rate 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:33.960 is between an Indiana CRU and an Arkansas hour. 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:38.460 Is a CRU 10 minutes? Is it an hour? Is it a full 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:40.360 day? And that's the problem. There isn't one. 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:42.860 There's no national standard. It's a local currency 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:44.840 that's only good in that state. And then it gets 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:46.740 even wilder. You go to Massachusetts, they want 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:50.080 150 professional development points, or PDPs, 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:55.240 150. Wow. That sounds exhausting just to say 00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:57.220 it. Well, Massachusetts has historically positioned 00:12:57.220 --> 00:12:59.500 itself as having very high educational standards, 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:01.460 so the high number isn't entirely surprising. 00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:04.360 But again, a point might be easier or harder 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:06.559 to earn than an hour or a unit. We just don't 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:09.019 know the density of the unit. Then there's Georgia. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.019 Yes, Georgia. Georgia requires 10, just 10, 10 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:16.419 professional learning units or PLUs. 10. So I 00:13:16.419 --> 00:13:18.399 have to ask the obvious question. Is a teacher 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:21.440 in Georgia 15 times less prepared or less developed 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:23.840 than a teacher in Massachusetts? Or is one Georgia 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:27.059 PLU just a massive, all -encompassing unit of 00:13:27.059 --> 00:13:29.740 learning? It's almost certainly the latter or 00:13:29.740 --> 00:13:31.500 represents a completely different philosophy 00:13:31.500 --> 00:13:35.419 of what counts as a unit. Maybe a PLU is an entire 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:38.240 semester long course, whereas a PDP in Massachusetts 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.299 is a one hour webinar. It has to be. But this 00:13:41.299 --> 00:13:43.820 disparity, this complete lack of a standardized 00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:47.299 metric is a real issue. It means that the term 00:13:47.299 --> 00:13:49.519 professional development means something totally 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:51.440 different depending on which side of a state 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:53.620 line you happen to be standing on. It creates 00:13:53.620 --> 00:13:55.980 this weird sense of inequality, doesn't it? If 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:58.340 I'm a parent. And I don't know the details. I'm 00:13:58.340 --> 00:14:00.200 looking at Massachusetts thinking, wow, they 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:02.039 really invest in training their teachers. And 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:04.200 I'm looking at Georgia thinking, are they just 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:07.360 winging it over there? But the reality could 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:09.700 be the exact opposite. Maybe the Georgia training 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:13.580 is deeper, more focused and more impactful. While 00:14:13.580 --> 00:14:15.940 the Massachusetts requirement leads to a lot 00:14:15.940 --> 00:14:18.799 of low quality box ticking just to hit that high 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:21.080 number. We just don't know from the numbers alone. 00:14:21.299 --> 00:14:24.559 The opacity is the problem. For some professions, 00:14:24.779 --> 00:14:27.519 it's not just a matter of state preference or 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:31.620 confusing numbers. It's existential. The source 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:34.220 notes that for nurses, and this is across the 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:36.840 board in the US, Canada, and the UK, this isn't 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:39.100 optional for your job. It's mandatory for your 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:41.659 entire professional registration. Right. It's 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:44.899 the absolute ticket to ride. What does that mean 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:47.779 in practice? It means if a teacher in Arkansas 00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:50.980 misses their 60 hours, they might get a reprimand 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:52.940 from their principal. Maybe you put on a performance 00:14:52.940 --> 00:14:55.759 plan. It's a problem, but probably not a career 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.759 -ending one. If a nurse misses their required 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:01.980 PD, they lose their license to practice. Full 00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:04.019 stop. They can't work as a nurse anymore. They 00:15:04.019 --> 00:15:06.039 stop being a nurse. The regulatory agencies, 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.120 the various boards of nursing, they're the ultimate 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:10.299 gatekeepers. They hold the keys to your entire 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:13.120 career, and PD is one of those keys. So we've 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:14.960 established that pretty much every professional 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.399 has to do this and the requirements are a bureaucratic 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:19.919 maze. But let's talk about the actual experience 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.019 of it, because the source mentions this important 00:15:22.019 --> 00:15:24.600 shift away from the old model of sit and get. 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:28.419 Sit and get. It's such a perfect and depressing 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:31.360 description of the old model, isn't it? It is. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:33.919 You sit in a chair. Someone talks at you with 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:36.440 a boring PowerPoint for four hours. You sign 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.500 a sheet of paper on your way out and you leave. 00:15:38.620 --> 00:15:40.500 And you retained absolutely nothing from it. 00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:44.620 Your brain is just. mush. Exactly. But the industry, 00:15:44.700 --> 00:15:47.059 so to speak, is trying to move away from that. 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:50.059 The source outlines a whole spectrum of delivery 00:15:50.059 --> 00:15:52.860 methods now. You have formal versus informal 00:15:52.860 --> 00:15:55.679 learning. Like a university course versus just... 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.019 reading a book on your own. Right. And you have 00:15:58.019 --> 00:16:01.740 group versus individualized learning. And crucially, 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:04.179 there's this split that's mentioned between two 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:07.440 types of skills, task skills and process skills. 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:09.340 And that's a really important distinction. Bring 00:16:09.340 --> 00:16:11.559 that down for me. Task versus process. What's 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.179 the difference? Task skills are functional. They 00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:16.600 are the concrete how -tos of a job. How do I 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:18.320 operate this new piece of medical equipment? 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:20.919 How do I use this updated legal research software? 00:16:21.379 --> 00:16:23.580 It's the nuts and bolts. The tangible stuff. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:27.220 The tangible stuff. Process skills are the glue 00:16:27.220 --> 00:16:29.840 that holds everything else together. The source 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.519 lists things like leadership, effectiveness skills, 00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:35.639 which is a bit vague. Very vague. But also team 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:40.019 functioning skills and systems thinking. Systems 00:16:40.019 --> 00:16:42.779 thinking is a buzzword I hear constantly. What 00:16:42.779 --> 00:16:44.840 does it actually mean in a professional development 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:47.559 context? How do you teach that? It means teaching 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:49.980 someone to see beyond their own specific job 00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:52.500 and understand how their work affects the entire 00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:55.730 organization or the entire system. For example, 00:16:55.909 --> 00:16:58.289 a nurse isn't just treating a patient in a vacuum. 00:16:58.429 --> 00:17:01.250 That nurse is part of a complex flow of information 00:17:01.250 --> 00:17:04.250 and care that involves doctors, pharmacists, 00:17:04.250 --> 00:17:06.690 insurance companies, lab technicians, and discharge 00:17:06.690 --> 00:17:09.789 planners. Systems thinking is learning how to 00:17:09.789 --> 00:17:12.450 navigate that entire web effectively so the patient 00:17:12.450 --> 00:17:14.170 doesn't fall through the cracks somewhere. That 00:17:14.170 --> 00:17:16.670 seems infinitely more valuable than just learning 00:17:16.670 --> 00:17:19.029 a software update, but also infinitely harder 00:17:19.029 --> 00:17:21.609 to teach. Much, much harder. You can't teach 00:17:21.609 --> 00:17:23.450 systems thinking with a multiple choice quiz 00:17:23.450 --> 00:17:25.869 or a PowerPoint slide. It requires simulation, 00:17:26.210 --> 00:17:28.410 case studies, deep discussion. Now, speaking 00:17:28.410 --> 00:17:30.670 of incentives, I found one detail in the source 00:17:30.670 --> 00:17:32.910 that I just absolutely loved. It's about Ireland. 00:17:33.289 --> 00:17:35.589 And I kind of want to propose we enact this here 00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:36.990 immediately. I know what you're going to say. 00:17:37.349 --> 00:17:40.769 The EPV days. Yes. The extra personal vacation 00:17:40.769 --> 00:17:42.549 days. Tell me if I'm reading this correctly. 00:17:42.829 --> 00:17:46.869 In Ireland, teachers can take continuing professional 00:17:46.869 --> 00:17:50.500 development or CPD. courses. And in exchange, 00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:53.220 they get extra days of paid vacation. That is 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:55.000 correct. You trade in your learning certificates 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.460 for time off. That is utterly brilliant. It's 00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:00.519 genius. It appeals to the basest, most powerful 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:03.259 human instinct. I really, really want a day off. 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:06.279 It's a very clever incentive structure. It explicitly 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:10.039 acknowledges that PD takes effort and time, especially 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:12.980 during summer break for teachers, and it compensates 00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:14.720 that effort with the one thing professionals 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:16.940 crave more than anything else, recovery time. 00:18:17.420 --> 00:18:19.339 But I have to play devil's advocate for a second 00:18:19.339 --> 00:18:21.839 here. Does that, I don't know, does that cheapen 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:23.380 the learning? If I'm only taking the course because 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:25.519 I want a three -day weekend in August, am I really 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.920 engaging with the material? Or am I just clicking 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.880 next, next, next as fast as I can until I get 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:33.680 my certificate? That is the cynical view. And 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.460 it's a completely valid concern. If the ultimate 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:39.039 goal is the vacation day, then the learning just 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.779 becomes an obstacle to get past as quickly as 00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:44.119 possible. Right. However, the source mentions 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:47.450 a specific provider, Actualize Academy. which 00:18:47.450 --> 00:18:49.750 runs these online courses. And they're for things 00:18:49.750 --> 00:18:52.009 like special education -focused skills. Okay, 00:18:52.069 --> 00:18:54.329 so these aren't fluff courses. Checking a box 00:18:54.329 --> 00:18:56.789 for a webinar is one thing, but special ed skills 00:18:56.789 --> 00:19:00.390 are serious, critical competencies. Exactly. 00:19:00.650 --> 00:19:02.750 The force mentions they're designed to meet the 00:19:02.750 --> 00:19:06.369 upcoming demands of the student population. These 00:19:06.369 --> 00:19:10.210 are difficult, necessary skills. And if the incentive 00:19:10.210 --> 00:19:12.289 of an extra vacation day is what finally gets 00:19:12.289 --> 00:19:14.569 a busy, burned -out teacher to engage with that 00:19:14.569 --> 00:19:17.269 difficult material, then maybe the end justifies 00:19:17.269 --> 00:19:19.470 the means. That's a fair point. If the result 00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:21.990 is a teacher who is better equipped to handle 00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:24.329 a special needs classroom, who really cares if 00:19:24.329 --> 00:19:27.029 their initial motivation was a Friday off, the 00:19:27.029 --> 00:19:29.309 kids still benefit. It treats learning as a currency. 00:19:29.529 --> 00:19:32.049 You invest your attention and your time, and 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:34.250 you earn back personal time. It's a transaction, 00:19:34.390 --> 00:19:35.970 but it could be a very healthy and effective 00:19:35.970 --> 00:19:38.440 one. I'm still just jealous of it. But let's 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:41.660 move on to the how, the specific methods. The 00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:44.039 source lists a whole bunch of different methodologies, 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:45.779 and I don't want us to just read off a list of 00:19:45.779 --> 00:19:47.440 definitions because that's boring. I want to 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:49.920 understand what these actually look like in real 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.480 life. Agreed. The terminology can get dense and 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:56.720 jargony, but the practices themselves are actually 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:58.960 quite distinct and interesting. Okay, let's start 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:01.720 with one we've probably all heard of. The case 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:04.279 study method. It's big in business schools and 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:06.839 law schools. But how does it work in a typical 00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:10.539 PD setting? So the source defines it as putting 00:20:10.539 --> 00:20:13.480 the student in the role of a decision maker facing 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:17.049 a problem. Let's imagine you're a junior civil 00:20:17.049 --> 00:20:19.910 engineer. A traditional lecture might just tell 00:20:19.910 --> 00:20:22.049 you the safety tolerances and the load -bearing 00:20:22.049 --> 00:20:24.890 capacity of a specific type of steel beam. A 00:20:24.890 --> 00:20:27.230 bunch of numbers and formulas. Right. A case 00:20:27.230 --> 00:20:29.329 study, on the other hand, puts you in a scenario. 00:20:29.349 --> 00:20:32.369 It says you're on a job site. This specific beam 00:20:32.369 --> 00:20:34.710 is showing signs of stress cracking. The project 00:20:34.710 --> 00:20:37.089 deadline is tomorrow. The client is screaming 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:39.009 at you on the phone and it's starting to rain. 00:20:39.289 --> 00:20:41.920 What do you do? What are your next three steps? 00:20:42.220 --> 00:20:44.180 So it's a simulator. It's like a flight simulator, 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:46.519 but for professional decision -making. Exactly. 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:48.599 It forces you to actually apply the practice 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:50.759 we talked about. You have to take all that abstract 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:53.539 theory about steel tolerances and bridge it to 00:20:53.539 --> 00:20:56.000 the messy, high -pressure reality of the situation. 00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:58.640 There's no single right answer to bubble in. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:02.460 Okay, I like that. What about consultation? This 00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:05.119 one confused me a bit. To me, a consultant is 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.150 an expensive outsider you hire. But the source 00:21:08.150 --> 00:21:10.569 defines it differently as a PD method. Right. 00:21:10.650 --> 00:21:13.750 It's not about hiring McKinsey. In the PD context, 00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:17.150 consultation is a structured process for immediate 00:21:17.150 --> 00:21:20.569 internal problem solving. It's basically, we 00:21:20.569 --> 00:21:22.430 have a crisis happening right now in our team. 00:21:22.930 --> 00:21:25.470 Let's use this systematic process to analyze 00:21:25.470 --> 00:21:27.849 the problem, brainstorm solutions, and implement 00:21:27.849 --> 00:21:31.210 one. It's learning by doing, but with the safety 00:21:31.210 --> 00:21:33.519 net of a predefined structure. So it's less about 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.160 future theory and more about present -day firefighting. 00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:38.380 Precisely. It's about building the skill of crisis 00:21:38.380 --> 00:21:41.660 management in real time. Got it. Now, I really 00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:43.539 want to clarify the difference between coaching 00:21:43.539 --> 00:21:46.400 and mentoring, because I feel like people use 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:49.240 these two words completely interchangeably, but 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:52.220 the source makes a clear distinction. They do, 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.259 and it's a very important one. They are very 00:21:54.259 --> 00:21:56.880 different. The source says coaching focuses on 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:00.839 observation, reflection, and action, specifically 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:04.079 to enhance competencies. Okay, so give me an 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:05.880 example. Let's go back to the medical field. 00:22:06.259 --> 00:22:09.680 Imagine a surgeon who is learning a new complex 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:13.789 robotic surgery technique. A coach would be another 00:22:13.789 --> 00:22:15.789 more experienced surgeon standing there in the 00:22:15.789 --> 00:22:18.509 operating room or in a simulator watching their 00:22:18.509 --> 00:22:20.289 hands. Right there with them. Right there. And 00:22:20.289 --> 00:22:22.430 the coach says, OK, adjust your grip by two millimeters. 00:22:22.769 --> 00:22:25.170 Now rotate your wrist three degrees to the left. 00:22:25.250 --> 00:22:28.069 Good. Now do that same movement again, but smoother. 00:22:28.190 --> 00:22:31.029 Yeah. It is tactical. It is specific. It is all 00:22:31.029 --> 00:22:33.269 about the performance of the skill. OK. Very 00:22:33.269 --> 00:22:36.289 micro level. So how is mentoring different? Mentoring 00:22:36.289 --> 00:22:38.890 is defined as promoting awareness and refinement 00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:41.210 of one's professional development as a whole. 00:22:41.630 --> 00:22:44.109 It involves reflection and observation, but it's 00:22:44.109 --> 00:22:46.890 much broader. The mentor isn't watching the surgeon's 00:22:46.890 --> 00:22:49.569 hands. They're zoomed out. They're zoomed way 00:22:49.569 --> 00:22:52.950 out. Yeah. The mentor is the person who takes 00:22:52.950 --> 00:22:55.609 that surgeon out for coffee a week later and 00:22:55.609 --> 00:22:58.190 asks, how are you handling the stress of these 00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:00.549 new high stakes procedures? Where do you see 00:23:00.549 --> 00:23:02.609 your career going in the next 10 years? Are you 00:23:02.609 --> 00:23:05.130 feeling burned out? It's about the person, not 00:23:05.130 --> 00:23:07.890 just the task. So the coach fixes your golf swing. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:10.759 The mentor helps you decide if you even want 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:12.759 to be a golfer anymore. That is a perfect way 00:23:12.759 --> 00:23:15.680 to put it, yes. I like that distinction. Okay, 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:19.619 next up, communities of practice. This sounds 00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:21.259 a little bit, I don't know, a bit community. 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.960 The source mentions shared inquiry. It sounds 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:26.400 a little soft, but it's actually one of the most 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.059 powerful and effective methods, especially for 00:23:29.059 --> 00:23:31.500 experienced professionals. It's essentially a 00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:34.220 high level, self -directed peer group. It's not 00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:36.960 a class where one expert teaches a room of novices. 00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:39.700 So no one is in charge. Not really. It's a group 00:23:39.700 --> 00:23:42.799 of peers, say six experienced architects who 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:45.450 agree to meet once a month. to discuss a shared 00:23:45.450 --> 00:23:47.609 problem that none of them have a clear answer 00:23:47.609 --> 00:23:49.809 to. Like, how are we all dealing with the challenges 00:23:49.809 --> 00:23:52.029 of using this new sustainable building material? 00:23:52.230 --> 00:23:54.269 What's working? What's not? So it's like a hive 00:23:54.269 --> 00:23:56.710 mind for a profession. Exactly. It leverages 00:23:56.710 --> 00:23:58.910 the collective intelligence and distributed experience 00:23:58.910 --> 00:24:01.990 of the group to solve novel problems. Then we 00:24:01.990 --> 00:24:04.970 have lesson study. This seems very specific to 00:24:04.970 --> 00:24:07.690 teachers. It is. And it originated in Japan. 00:24:08.140 --> 00:24:10.859 It's a fascinating process. It involves teachers 00:24:10.859 --> 00:24:15.200 systematically examining their practice. In a 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:17.460 typical lesson study, a teacher might design 00:24:17.460 --> 00:24:20.900 a specific lesson plan for, say, teaching fractions. 00:24:21.339 --> 00:24:24.079 Then they teach that class while three of their 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.019 colleagues sit in the back of the room and watch. 00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:28.200 Well, that sounds absolutely terrifying, being 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:30.759 watched and judged by your peers. But that's 00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:33.339 the key. The goal isn't to judge the teacher. 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:36.640 The goal is to analyze the lesson. The observers 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.440 are there to be data collectors. They're watching 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:40.940 the students. Did the kids understand that concept 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:43.279 about common denominators? Why did that kid in 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:45.059 the back tune out at the seven -minute mark? 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:47.140 Was the explanation confusing? So the lesson 00:24:47.140 --> 00:24:49.960 itself is the thing being studied, not the teacher. 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:53.420 Correct. It requires immense trust and vulnerability 00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:56.720 among the teachers. But it's powerful because 00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:59.640 it treats teaching as a science to be observed 00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:02.660 and proved, not just a performance to be applauded. 00:25:02.839 --> 00:25:06.819 Okay. Next is reflective supervision. This one 00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:08.980 sounded pretty intense to me. The definition 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:11.359 mentions needing to support the articulation 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:14.700 of the rationale for their practices. This is 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:17.900 the why method. It's very common in fields like 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:20.779 social work or therapy. It's not enough for an 00:25:20.779 --> 00:25:23.640 employee to just do the job well. In a reflective 00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:25.799 supervision session, the supervisor consistently 00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:28.279 asks, why did you make that choice with that 00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:30.259 client? What theory were you drawing on? What 00:25:30.259 --> 00:25:32.480 was your rationale for saying that and not something 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:35.329 else? Because it just felt like the right thing 00:25:35.329 --> 00:25:38.349 to do is not an acceptable answer. No, that's 00:25:38.349 --> 00:25:40.809 the one answer you can't give. You have to be 00:25:40.809 --> 00:25:42.690 able to articulate the professional rationale 00:25:42.690 --> 00:25:45.750 behind your actions. It forces you to understand 00:25:45.750 --> 00:25:47.930 your own instincts and connect them to establish 00:25:47.930 --> 00:25:50.769 best practices. It makes the implicit explicit. 00:25:51.170 --> 00:25:53.230 And finally, the sourceless technical assistance. 00:25:53.410 --> 00:25:55.130 This one seems a bit different from the others. 00:25:55.349 --> 00:25:58.269 It is. It's less a direct learning method and 00:25:58.269 --> 00:26:00.230 more about the infrastructure that supports learning. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.579 It means providing resources, facilitating networking, 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:06.779 offering tools and information. It's the support 00:26:06.779 --> 00:26:09.759 system that allows all the other methods like 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:12.440 coaching or communities of practice to actually 00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:14.819 happen effectively. So we have this whole toolkit 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:17.500 of methods. We have simulators, coaches, mentors, 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:19.579 peer groups, all these different ways to learn. 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:22.400 But all of this happens on a timeline. The source 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:24.779 makes a really big distinction between the beginning 00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:28.430 of a professional's career and... Well, the rest 00:26:28.430 --> 00:26:30.269 of it. Yes, the life cycle of a professional. 00:26:30.529 --> 00:26:32.849 It's broken into two distinct phases. Let's start 00:26:32.849 --> 00:26:35.390 with phase one, initial professional development 00:26:35.390 --> 00:26:38.809 or IPD. IPD is the boot camp. It's the crucible. 00:26:39.089 --> 00:26:41.349 The source defines it as the period where an 00:26:41.349 --> 00:26:43.369 individual acquires the competence to operate 00:26:43.369 --> 00:26:46.049 as an autonomous professional. There's our favorite 00:26:46.049 --> 00:26:49.029 term again. It's the gatekeeping phase. You finish 00:26:49.029 --> 00:26:51.470 university, but you are not considered a pro 00:26:51.470 --> 00:26:54.670 yet. You're an apprentice, a trainee, a resident. 00:26:55.750 --> 00:26:58.069 IPD is that structured period, which could be 00:26:58.069 --> 00:27:01.230 years long, where you are intensely supervised 00:27:01.230 --> 00:27:04.190 and mentored to prove you can finally be trusted. 00:27:04.390 --> 00:27:06.670 And who decides when you're ready? Who are the 00:27:06.670 --> 00:27:08.849 gatekeepers? It's the professional associations 00:27:08.849 --> 00:27:11.549 and chartered institutes. They're the ones who 00:27:11.549 --> 00:27:14.150 hold the keys. The source lists examples like 00:27:14.150 --> 00:27:16.109 the Institute of Mathematics and its applications, 00:27:16.529 --> 00:27:19.309 the Institution of Structural Engineers, and 00:27:19.309 --> 00:27:21.609 the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, 00:27:21.690 --> 00:27:24.680 or IOFISH. These are the organizations that grant 00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:27.680 you the chartered status. Exactly. You can't 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:29.819 just wake up one day and call yourself a chartered 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:31.579 structural engineer. You have to go through a 00:27:31.579 --> 00:27:34.940 rigorous, documented IPD process and pass their 00:27:34.940 --> 00:27:37.720 assessments. It's society's way of saying, OK, 00:27:37.900 --> 00:27:40.299 we have vetted you. We now trust you to build 00:27:40.299 --> 00:27:42.359 the bridge on your own. And once you cross that 00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:43.960 line, once you're a full -fledged professional, 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.420 you enter phase two. Phase two, which lasts for 00:27:47.420 --> 00:27:49.480 the rest of your career. Continuing professional 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.670 development, or CPD. Sometimes it's called CPE, 00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:55.130 Continuing Professional Education. This is the 00:27:55.130 --> 00:27:57.650 maintenance phase. The source calls it education 00:27:57.650 --> 00:28:00.210 to maintain knowledge and skills. Right. This 00:28:00.210 --> 00:28:02.410 is the running on the treadmill phase. The world 00:28:02.410 --> 00:28:05.069 keeps changing, technology keeps advancing, and 00:28:05.069 --> 00:28:07.390 you have to keep moving just to stay in the same 00:28:07.390 --> 00:28:09.309 place professionally. And the oversight here 00:28:09.309 --> 00:28:12.589 is just as massive as it is for IPD, right? Oh, 00:28:12.589 --> 00:28:15.569 it's a huge industry. The source lists oversight 00:28:15.569 --> 00:28:18.009 bodies like the Royal Institution of Chartered 00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:20.609 Surveyors for Real Estate and Construction, the 00:28:20.609 --> 00:28:22.529 American Academy of Financial Management for 00:28:22.529 --> 00:28:24.829 Finance, the International Institute of Risk 00:28:24.829 --> 00:28:27.490 and Safety Management. It honestly seems like 00:28:27.490 --> 00:28:30.130 there is an acronym and an oversight body for 00:28:30.130 --> 00:28:32.809 every single job on Earth. There practically 00:28:32.809 --> 00:28:35.980 is. And it's a truly global phenomenon. The source 00:28:35.980 --> 00:28:39.000 notes that the U .K. has the CPD Standards Office, 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:42.019 the CPD Institute, and the CPD Certification 00:28:42.019 --> 00:28:44.720 Service. They have an entire bureaucracy just 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:47.519 for accrediting the accreditation. And in Australia, 00:28:47.579 --> 00:28:50.339 you have OPERA, the Australian Health Practitioner 00:28:50.339 --> 00:28:52.799 Regulation Agency, which oversees all the health 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:55.019 professions. The source also mentioned AusMed 00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:57.099 for Australia, right, specifically for nurses 00:28:57.099 --> 00:28:59.680 and veterans. Yes, AusMed is a major provider 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:02.740 of CPD, and it's integrated right into the government 00:29:02.740 --> 00:29:05.089 system. The source is it's identified by the 00:29:05.089 --> 00:29:07.549 Department of Veterans Affairs as a key provider. 00:29:07.789 --> 00:29:11.569 So you have this huge global multibillion dollar 00:29:11.569 --> 00:29:15.369 industrial complex of accreditation bodies, certification 00:29:15.369 --> 00:29:18.089 services, training providers and tracking systems. 00:29:18.289 --> 00:29:20.029 Which leads us to the billion dollar question. 00:29:20.309 --> 00:29:22.890 The elephant in the room. We have millions of 00:29:22.890 --> 00:29:24.809 people spending billions of dollars investing 00:29:24.809 --> 00:29:27.309 endless hours of their lives. We have state mandates, 00:29:27.569 --> 00:29:29.789 global institutes, a whole industry built around 00:29:29.789 --> 00:29:33.069 this. And my question is. Does any of it actually 00:29:33.069 --> 00:29:35.589 work? This is where the story gets really complicated. 00:29:35.750 --> 00:29:37.690 And we have a bit of a showdown in the source 00:29:37.690 --> 00:29:39.910 material. We do. In the red corner, representing 00:29:39.910 --> 00:29:42.829 the optimists, we have the World Bank. Their 00:29:42.829 --> 00:29:46.049 2019 World Development Report is very, very bullish 00:29:46.049 --> 00:29:48.309 on the whole concept. They basically argue that 00:29:48.309 --> 00:29:51.259 PD is the engine of economic adaptation. What's 00:29:51.259 --> 00:29:53.380 their core argument? How do they see it? They 00:29:53.380 --> 00:29:56.400 look at it from a 30 ,000 -foot macroeconomic 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:59.059 perspective. They see the fundamental nature 00:29:59.059 --> 00:30:01.920 of work changing at an unprecedented rate automation 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:06.380 AI, the rise of the gig economy. They argue that 00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:08.400 the only way for the labor market to survive 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:11.299 this disruption is if workers can continuously 00:30:11.299 --> 00:30:15.619 adjust, and PD is the primary mechanism of that 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:18.750 adjustment. So their logic is if we don't have 00:30:18.750 --> 00:30:20.970 a robust system for professional development, 00:30:21.089 --> 00:30:23.690 the entire economy will eventually collapse because 00:30:23.690 --> 00:30:25.690 nobody will know how to do the new jobs that 00:30:25.690 --> 00:30:28.369 are being created. Essentially, yes. They view 00:30:28.369 --> 00:30:30.869 flexible, lifelong learning delivered through 00:30:30.869 --> 00:30:33.390 universities, adult education programs, corporate 00:30:33.390 --> 00:30:36.029 training as the essential lubricant that keeps 00:30:36.029 --> 00:30:38.390 the gears of the modern economy from grinding 00:30:38.390 --> 00:30:41.349 to a halt. OK. That sounds plausible. It's a 00:30:41.349 --> 00:30:43.769 logical top -down argument. But then in the blue 00:30:43.769 --> 00:30:45.630 corner, we have the skeptics. We have the Campbell 00:30:45.630 --> 00:30:48.349 collaboration. And also in 2019, they published 00:30:48.349 --> 00:30:50.670 a systematic review. But they didn't take the 00:30:50.670 --> 00:30:52.829 30 ,000 -foot view. They did the opposite. They 00:30:52.829 --> 00:30:55.230 zoomed all the way in. They looked specifically 00:30:55.230 --> 00:30:58.450 at welfare professionals, so social workers, 00:30:58.609 --> 00:31:00.950 child protection officers. And they asked a very 00:31:00.950 --> 00:31:05.059 specific question. Does the CPD they're required 00:31:05.059 --> 00:31:08.480 to do have any measurable impact on the outcomes 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:10.460 for the children and young people they serve? 00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:13.460 So not does the economy survive, but are the 00:31:13.460 --> 00:31:15.000 kids they're supposed to be helping actually 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:18.160 doing better? Exactly. A very direct, very outcomes 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:21.940 -focused question. And their finding was stark. 00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:24.740 They found, and I'm quoting, little evidence 00:31:24.740 --> 00:31:27.200 of the effectiveness of CPD on those outcomes. 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:30.230 Wow. That is a punch in the gut to this entire 00:31:30.230 --> 00:31:32.710 industry. Little evidence. So we're forcing social 00:31:32.710 --> 00:31:34.390 workers to go to all this training. We're spending 00:31:34.390 --> 00:31:36.329 millions of dollars on it. And the kids aren't 00:31:36.329 --> 00:31:38.529 seeing any measurable benefit. That is what the 00:31:38.529 --> 00:31:41.849 data from the review suggests. But, and we have 00:31:41.849 --> 00:31:44.450 to be really careful and nuanced here, does little 00:31:44.450 --> 00:31:46.650 evidence of effectiveness mean that the training 00:31:46.650 --> 00:31:49.970 is definitively useless? Or does it mean that 00:31:49.970 --> 00:31:51.930 the measurement of that effectiveness is flawed 00:31:51.930 --> 00:31:54.670 or maybe even impossible? That's the critical 00:31:54.670 --> 00:31:57.269 question, isn't it? I mean, how on earth do you 00:31:57.269 --> 00:31:59.630 measure the direct impact of a social worker's 00:31:59.630 --> 00:32:03.009 training course on the life trajectory of a vulnerable 00:32:03.009 --> 00:32:05.750 child? It's not like fixing a car where you can 00:32:05.750 --> 00:32:08.329 say, the engine was broken, I took a course, 00:32:08.430 --> 00:32:11.869 now the engine works. Exactly. There are a million 00:32:11.869 --> 00:32:15.109 confounding variables. Poverty, family dynamics, 00:32:15.490 --> 00:32:20.049 school environment, community resources. The 00:32:20.049 --> 00:32:22.690 social workers training is just one tiny input 00:32:22.690 --> 00:32:25.730 into an incredibly complex system. So the Campbell 00:32:25.730 --> 00:32:27.450 finding, it highlights what you could call the 00:32:27.450 --> 00:32:30.130 evidence gap. It is incredibly hard to draw a 00:32:30.130 --> 00:32:33.349 clean, straight causal line from a professional 00:32:33.349 --> 00:32:36.950 took a course on Tuesday to a client's life measurably 00:32:36.950 --> 00:32:38.769 improved on Friday. Right. And the World Bank 00:32:38.769 --> 00:32:40.230 isn't even trying to draw that line. They're 00:32:40.230 --> 00:32:42.230 looking at inputs. Are people taking courses? 00:32:42.390 --> 00:32:45.210 Is the system functioning? They have faith that 00:32:45.210 --> 00:32:47.609 these inputs must be good for the economy. Campbell 00:32:47.609 --> 00:32:49.930 is looking for hard, distinct. outcomes data 00:32:49.930 --> 00:32:52.289 and they can't find it. It really feels like 00:32:52.289 --> 00:32:54.710 a collision between faith and data. It does. 00:32:55.190 --> 00:32:57.730 And it raises a really uncomfortable possibility. 00:32:58.470 --> 00:33:01.509 Are we as a society much better at mandating 00:33:01.509 --> 00:33:04.089 training than we are at designing training that 00:33:04.089 --> 00:33:06.710 actually works and has a real impact? We're good 00:33:06.710 --> 00:33:08.930 at compliance. We're really good at building 00:33:08.930 --> 00:33:11.210 systems to check the box. But are we good at 00:33:11.210 --> 00:33:14.329 ensuring praxis? Are we good at making sure that 00:33:14.329 --> 00:33:16.529 the 60 hours of training in Arkansas actually 00:33:16.529 --> 00:33:19.029 translates to a better, more effective classroom 00:33:19.029 --> 00:33:21.509 for the students? The Campbell report suggests 00:33:21.509 --> 00:33:25.130 we might not be, or at least we can't prove that 00:33:25.130 --> 00:33:27.390 we are. That brings us all the way back to that 00:33:27.390 --> 00:33:29.609 idea of moral obligation we talked about at the 00:33:29.609 --> 00:33:32.289 beginning. If I, as a professional, have a moral 00:33:32.289 --> 00:33:35.299 obligation to learn. Does the system that mandates 00:33:35.299 --> 00:33:37.619 that learning have a moral obligation to make 00:33:37.619 --> 00:33:39.480 sure the learning is actually worth my time? 00:33:39.619 --> 00:33:41.019 I think that's the crux of the whole debate. 00:33:41.259 --> 00:33:43.619 If we demand that professionals give up their 00:33:43.619 --> 00:33:45.720 precious time or, as we saw in Ireland, their 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:49.099 potential vacation days, we owe them and society 00:33:49.099 --> 00:33:51.680 some solid evidence that it actually matters. 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:55.220 So where does all of this leave us? We've covered 00:33:55.220 --> 00:33:57.279 a lot of ground. We've traveled from the educational 00:33:57.279 --> 00:33:59.980 reforms of the 1960s all the way to the World 00:33:59.980 --> 00:34:02.640 Bank's vision for the future of work. We've looked 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:05.140 at the baffling maze of state mandates and the 00:34:05.140 --> 00:34:07.920 global alphabet soup of oversight bodies. And 00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:09.659 we've seen all of the different ways to learn 00:34:09.659 --> 00:34:12.900 from being coached on a specific skill to being 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:15.559 part of a community of practice to being watched 00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:18.789 by your peers in a lesson study. And we've ended 00:34:18.789 --> 00:34:20.989 on this central tension, the tension between 00:34:20.989 --> 00:34:23.769 the clear economic necessity of PD and the profound 00:34:23.769 --> 00:34:26.550 difficulty of proving its results on the ground. 00:34:26.690 --> 00:34:29.369 It's a very messy landscape. It is. But I think 00:34:29.369 --> 00:34:31.969 for you, the listener, the learner tuning in, 00:34:32.050 --> 00:34:34.570 there's a takeaway here. You can't control the 00:34:34.570 --> 00:34:37.230 system. You probably can't control whether your 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:41.059 state demands 10 PLUs or 150 pinning peas. but 00:34:41.059 --> 00:34:44.219 you can control how you approach it. Yes. You 00:34:44.219 --> 00:34:46.400 can choose to treat it as a chore, as mere compliance, 00:34:46.699 --> 00:34:48.559 or you can choose to treat it as an opportunity 00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:51.500 for genuine praxis. Don't wait for the system 00:34:51.500 --> 00:34:53.940 to prove its own effectiveness. Be the evidence 00:34:53.940 --> 00:34:56.420 yourself. When you're in that seminar, whether 00:34:56.420 --> 00:34:58.800 it's online or in person, don't just sit and 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:02.300 get. Ask the why question. Challenge the assumptions. 00:35:02.820 --> 00:35:05.099 Look for the bridge between the theory they're 00:35:05.099 --> 00:35:07.320 giving you and the problems you face every day 00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:09.340 at your job. And always remember the ultimate 00:35:09.340 --> 00:35:12.710 goal of all of this. To become and remain an 00:35:12.710 --> 00:35:15.190 autonomous professional, you are building the 00:35:15.190 --> 00:35:17.230 version of yourself that doesn't need a supervisor, 00:35:17.510 --> 00:35:20.110 that can be trusted to make the right call when 00:35:20.110 --> 00:35:22.360 it matters most. I want to leave you with one 00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:24.920 final thought, a provocation, really. We've talked 00:35:24.920 --> 00:35:26.760 a lot about the lack of hard evidence from the 00:35:26.760 --> 00:35:28.860 Campbell collaboration, but let's play a thought 00:35:28.860 --> 00:35:31.139 experiment. Let's assume for a moment that we 00:35:31.139 --> 00:35:34.000 can never prove on a spreadsheet that PD changes 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:37.579 outcomes in these complex social fields. Is the 00:35:37.579 --> 00:35:40.440 unexamined career worth having? A Socratic twist 00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:43.440 on professional life. Exactly. Even if the training 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:46.139 doesn't perfectly correlate to a student's test 00:35:46.139 --> 00:35:49.119 score or a client's outcome, is the mere act 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:51.920 of stopping, reflecting, and actively trying 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:54.739 to be better valuable in and of itself? Does 00:35:54.739 --> 00:35:57.019 the act of engaging in reflective practice change 00:35:57.019 --> 00:35:59.579 who you are as a professional, regardless of 00:35:59.579 --> 00:36:01.739 whether the data can capture it? I would argue 00:36:01.739 --> 00:36:03.840 it has to. I think it keeps the professional 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:06.880 mind alive. A professional who stops learning, 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:09.260 who decides they know everything they need to 00:36:09.260 --> 00:36:11.730 know, they've already quit. They just haven't 00:36:11.730 --> 00:36:13.829 left the building yet. That's it for today. Go 00:36:13.829 --> 00:36:15.769 earn those credits, and we'll see you on the 00:36:15.769 --> 00:36:16.409 next deep dive.