Colleges lecturers professional standards

Initial Professional Standards for Professional Practice and Development

Context and Rationale

Lecturers must be flexible, reflective, innovative, creative and personally committed to continuing vocational and professional development. They must understand the context for continual change to ensure the high quality of the learner experience. Lecturers should be a model for change by demonstrating an individual commitment to continuously develop their professional practice towards excellence for the benefit of learners, partner organisations and the wider educational context.

Standards

The lecturer should be able to:

1. Evaluate critically how education is influenced by, and contributes toward, policies that impact upon the wider political, social, economic, cultural and technological context.
2. Critically reflect on personal values and how they align with and support the values and ethics that underpin professional practice.
3. Understand the roles, rights and responsibilities of the lecturer and apply them to their professional practice.
4. Comply with all applicable statutory requirements and relevant codes of practice and apply them to their professional practice.
5. Promote good practice in relation to equality, social and cultural diversity and the protection and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable learners.
6. Manage self, relationships and work demands to promote personal, emotional and physical well-being.
7. Engage purposely in reflective practice.
8. Identify and undertake relevant professional development to enhance practice and maintain currency; develop and commit to personal continuing professional development strategies to achieve individual, team and organisational goals.

Indicative Content

• current government policies/initiatives, strategies and goals
• the funding environment in which Scotland's colleges operate
• collaboration: schools, colleges, universities, CLD, businesses and other agencies
• current relevant legislation and good practice: equality and social and cultural diversity; the protection and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable learners; freedom of information, data protection, health and safety
• promotion/advocacy of current educational principles and values: Curriculum for Excellence, Skills for Learning, Life and Work, environmental awareness, sustainable development education, global citizenship and healthy lifestyles
• role descriptions and conditions of employment
• the development of the lecturer as a digital practitioner
• college processes for strategic and operational planning including the contribution made by lecturers
• engagement with recent and relevant research, educational theory and practice
• evidence based approaches to developing teaching and learning
• requirements of opportunities for and approaches to continuing professional development
• current practices in industry/commerce/business processes
• networks for sharing good practice including social media
• policy formulation
• appreciation of the rapidly changing knowledge base
• appreciation of the interdependence of global social, economic, and environmental systems
• Strategies to:
  • promote health, safety and wellbeing of learners, self and colleagues including methods for the prevention and reduction of stress
  • promote good relationships with colleagues: interpersonal and communication skills, equality and inclusiveness and conflict resolution.