Certified Practitioner (CeP) status is a formal recognition of specialist knowledge, practice and commitment to the ALDinHE values. There are two recognition scheme routes: Certified Practitioner (CeP) aimed at Learning Developers operating at an institutional level and Certified Leading Practitioner (CeLP) aimed at Learning Developers operating at a national / international level. Register now for our next professional recognition writing retreat. You can also explore the reflections of Daisy Abbott who shares her experience of gaining CeLP below:
My CeLP experience by Daisy Abbott
Daisy Abbott is an interdisciplinary researcher and research developer based in the School of Simulation and Visualisation at The Glasgow School of Art. Daisy has teaching experience in courses such as Academic Skills for Master’s Research (postgraduate) and Digital Cultures (undergraduate).
In October 2021 I tentatively released a new learning tool that I’d been working on – the Creative Thinking Quest. I’d started this as an experiment to see if I could use interactive and personalised learning to better support my postgraduate class on Academic Skills for Master’s Research. Research skills are notoriously difficult to teach in a way that is meaningful and fun for students so this was the latest of a few game-based approaches I created for my course and focussed specifically on the steps needed to design a rigorous and feasible research project. Once I realised it could work, I posted a link to Twitter and a few of the most relevant JISCmail groups and asked for feedback. The tool was warmly received and I got a message back through the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) JISCmail list suggesting that I consider applying for Professional Recognition as a Certified Practitioner of Learning Development.
I downloaded the guidance and read it carefully. I was, I felt, an unusual applicant as my Learning Development practice comes from my role as a researcher in Game Based Learning and is then applied in my teaching of research skills, rather than from specific employment as a Learning Developer. However, the more I read, the more I felt I fit the criteria and decided to apply as a Certified Leading Practitioner.
I spent some time assembling the evidence for my application: selecting relevant publications, collating previous evidence of impact, and setting up new impact measures for the recently released tool. This was a huge amount of fun! It’s always rewarding to remind yourself that you are actually making a difference in the world (even if it’s a niche one!) This process encouraged me to (finally!) start an academic blog to showcase my work and to start actually sharing my YouTube channel with people!
I wrote up my two short case studies and statement of professional practice and approached two referees from two different contexts who both knew my work well. The actual submission process was very clear and easy – and less than a month later, I was a CeLP! I would definitely recommend applying, it’s a chance to critically reflect on your LD practice and remind yourself of your impact!