Community Out Of Partnership

In Scotland, both the present Scottish Government and previous Scottish Executive have put a great deal of emphasis on the continuing professional development of educators. For school teachers, this has come in the form of the 21st Century Agreement. In addition, the Scottish Government has recently published its key strategy for lifelong learning and professional development entitled Skills for Scotland. These initiatives have given the lifelong learning and professional development of teachers and the role of the Educational Institute of Scotland's Learning Representatives greater impetus within the Scottish teaching profession. This book, which is the second in a series charting the Institute's evolving LRs initiative, examines the creation of a CPD community made up of teachers, LRs, head teachers and local authority CPD Quality Improvement Officers, and the impact it is having on the compulsory sector. It will highlight and discuss the formation of this community and how the ensuing partnership approach is working at different levels within Scottish teaching. Dr Alex Alexandrou has worked extensively in the fields of continuing professional development, human resource management and industrial relations in both the public and private sectors, as both an academic and practitioner. He is currently a Research Associate with the School of Education, University of Edinburgh, Honorary Secretary of the International Professional Development Association and an Associate Editor of the academic journal entitled Professional Development Education. He has published widely and has recently written Partnership Out of Conflict: The Emergence of the Educational Institute of Scotland's Learning Representatives (Humming Earth, 2007).