CPD has divided the profession, if we are to believe that this was the real reason why an alternative membership organisation was set up.
In reality CPD was voted in by members of ASLI. I voted for it. Erroneously I believe now but only because it took so long for the NRCPD to make it mandatory. Though it was not really a mistake. If ASLI had not have done it first if may have taken many more years.
Why is CPD, as a mandatory requirement of registration, so important?
1) A registration body who has CPD as a requirement is taken much more seriously as upholding the standards of a profession. We would never gain protection of title without it. By that I mean it would be illegal to call yourself and work as an interpreter if you are not a Registered Interpreter. That is the one thing we should be aiming towards. Together.
2) One argument against compulsory CPD is that many interpreters say they do it anyway. Then it is easy. All that needs to be done is record it. Why wouldn’t you want to prove your learning, your commitment to the profession?
3) Another is that it is too expensive. CPD does not just come in the guise of training courses which are often expensive and not always guaranteed to be of good quality. There are plenty of organisations who churn out less than interesting courses with dubious trainers. You can get free or heavily discounted training as an ASLI member too. Another blogpost follows this one which categories some of the many alternatives to expensive CPD.
4) Occasionally one comes across an interpreter who qualified years ago and has done nothing since. They can be hard to work with, it may be hard to even discuss how to work together on an assignment and as result of no learning, they could be out of date, deskilled and unsafe. That, in my opinion, is one of the best reasons for having CPD. Deaf people deserve to have committed professionals of quality, not another category of people making money off the back of the Deaf community.
5) Some interpreters object to the compulsory part, calling it dictatorial and authoritarian. For reasons discussed in point 4, it has to be that way. Some, unfortunately, have to be made to complete any kind of professional development. From another perspective if you are doing it anyway then no-one is forcing you to complete it. You are only being asked to record what you have done and provide evidence.
There were other arguments against CPD when it was being mooted at the time, which are no doubt out of date two years or so down the line. CPD may be relatively new for us and no doubt it will take time to bed in.
For many mandatory CPD is a must and the Institute of Continuing Professional Development sums it up perfectly:
‘Commitment to CPD is also an acknowledgement that becoming professionally qualified is not an end in itself – it is merely the beginning. Updating skills and knowledge on a continuing basis is essential to career progression, particularly given the passing of the ‘job for life’ and rigorously-defined career path cultures.’
For the Sign Language Interpreting profession in the UK, we have seen a paradigm shift, one which was repeatedly asked for and is now being established. CPD is here to stay and rightly so. Most of the profession agree, it is accepted by the majority and it will be the norm soon, if it is not considered to be so already. As always, it unfortunately takes some people longer to accept change.
Post to follow soon: CPD – Avoiding the Expense