Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal October 2007 Volume 5(5)

Career development

Opinion. Small acorns...

Isabel Hood urges members to grasp the opportunities of the Revalidation process as a building block in professional development.

Sometimes I think the profession creates its own realities, its own self-fulfilling prophecies. We say “this hasn’t worked” citing evidence x and y and take appropriate action to re-jig or to try another approach with something else. The underlying why it has or hasn’t worked, however, is usually more interesting to reflect upon before signing up to the reality offered. Sometimes it’s just to do with perception – how the profession, and all the individuals involved in it or related to it, think about and perceive things.

A current example concerns Revalidation. At the moment murmurs are to be heard in some places that Revalidation (voluntary Revalidation of the Charter, done in three year cycles, submission by portfolio) hasn’t worked as anticipated, and the evidence they cite is the numbers who have submitted and the numbers who have passed.

The comparison tends to be made with the same figures for the other new qualification creation of CILIP’s Framework – Certification (paraprofessional qualification and entrance route into being eligible to become a registration candidate for a later Chartership submission under the Chartership Regulations). Certification, on that analysis, has done far better in its first two-and-a-bit years of existence. The figures show that far fewer people have, to date, submitted Revalidation applications than have submitted applications for Chartership or for Certification. Does this mean Revalidation is failing? Or does it mean it needs encouragement through more explanation, promotion and support?

There are many LIS qualifications in existence, and I sometimes think we’ve invented the full panoply of them over the decades just in order to ensure no HR Department will ever understand which ones should usefully apply to what level of post or type of job or salary without the expert tuition they’re very unlikely to seek out from their staff. And this also goes for benchmarking qualifications across different disciplines and professions within multi-functional organisations.

So, as somebody who already has a slight unease about the sheer plethora of available qualifications, and about their ease of use in how other people apply and grasp them, why am I ascribing a need to promote and support Revalidation?

This is because I believe it is a useful ongoing process and tool for individuals who are mid-career, which enables them to reflect upon and evaluate how far they’ve come, where they are, maybe where they want to go and what they want to do next. It necessitates stepping back from being submerged in the day-to-day concerns of the job, your users and your organisation. It allows for creation of a neutral space in which you can concentrate on yourself as an individual and focus on your development through your career within an overall professional context and to look at those in broad terms. It brings useful clarity and breathing space within a busy job, day, and life. As a technique it can make you more effective.

While I’ve always been more than delighted to ‘finally get rid of’ any portfolio I’ve submitted, I’ve always missed it afterwards as a means of providing something to go and work on after a bad day and to get back a sense of proportion, objectivity and connection to the wider profession. It can also reinforce an overall belief in the worth of what we do and its place in the wider scheme of things.

It’s good to have things you can control, make a difference to and believe in – especially in times when opening some of the professional press can feel very depressing and disillusioning. The only way to fight such feelings is to be proactive on something that will give back energy and commitment. There are all kinds of options on that front, but one is taking control of your own professional development and deciding you want to do something because you find it useful and personally worthwhile.

Revalidation is a public commitment to the idea that we are part of a profession. We all need regular continuing professional development in order to stay up-to-date and to inform our ability to carry out our roles and responsibilities effectively. These are things most of us fully believe in and do anyway and that we try to get across the importance of to our employers. We just don’t necessarily sort through all the paperwork and think about re-using parts of it in a more comprehensive way as part of a wider qualification submission.

Revalidation is voluntary and fairly new and, as with any LIS qualification, the regard or otherwise given to it by employers is always a key concern. People often say that one of the reasons they feel it’s not worth doing something is that it is not going to move them up a level or pay grade. Another is that it is not supported by their employer or practically acknowledged. But in reality, employers aren’t going to need to do anything about recognising it unless people revalidate in enough numbers to make having a policy on it necessary. Perhaps the first step to take is to ask your employer if they will support you. If more support is given more people will opt in and it will get to the stage that the organisation of its own accord will start drawing up a policy.

This is motivating for the individual too – tell people you’re doing something and you’re far likelier to actually do it. Agree with your employer you’re doing something and if they’re supporting it they’ll chivy you on too, because they have an interest in gaining a return on the resource they’ve investing in your qualification.

If you’re subject to any kind of ongoing appraisal process or performance evaluation and you need to find appropriate things to put into those, why not mention Revalidation? And if your organisation can’t or won’t support it, you could maybe think about a CILIP Mentor to support you through the process?

At the end of the day in order to be willing to give good professional development support employers need to understand the complexity of what library and informational professionals do in order to value it appropriately, not just see the outcomes. If they don’t understand in the first place then support is a lot less likely.

There are also various candidate and mentor support sources and networks for all the CILIP qualifications (through the Career Development Group, Personnel Training & Education Group and Affiliated Members) and they do what they can to promote, inform and advise individuals with questions and concerns about all the CILIP qualifications.

Revalidation doesn’t give rise to any new postnominals but it is measured against the assessment criteria by professional peers who sit on CILIP Assessment Panels. The Panels include people from all sectors who are interested in the profession and the individuals within it and want to support their development. Submissions don’t have to be big ‘belt’n’braces’ entities, they just have to fulfil the assessment criteria and be in the form stipulated in the Revalidation Handbook.

I talk to a lot of people who say they want to Revalidate, they have the intention to do it, but they just haven’t quite found that momentum which we all lack at times to actually start compiling as opposed to just thinking about it. I also know people with substantially-compiled Portfolios that have been languishing in corners and just need a small effort to submit. And there are many people who like the theory of it, but Revalidation didn’t exist when they Chartered, so they don’t necessarily have readily available a silo of consolidated paperwork from over the years that they may feel they need to start compiling, without lots of digging back in files and diaries. In busy lives, that’s a major disincentive. But then I also know very busy people who successfully submitted and got through without sending in an application anywhere near the size of a Himalayan mountain. It’s not everything; you are expected to be selective and sort out your personal reflection and highlights. That can be quite fun and thought-provoking.

Revalidation is a very new qualification, relatively speaking, so it is only natural for people to be a bit unsure about it and precisely what’s involved. I don’t think it’s failing. I think it’s more out of small acorns great trees, given time and a bit of nurture, have the potential to grow.

Isabel Hood is CDG Past President and Chair of CDG Scottish Division.e: Isabel.hood@semplefraser.co.uk

Information:
The Career Development Group (CDG) is a Special Interest Group within CILIP. It is dedicated to the encouragement of personal professional learning and development activities at their widest, and is spit into local geographic committees across the UK called Divisions.
It is entirely cross-sectoral and cross-issue though it has traditional emphases ranging from qualifications support through to international work.

For further details contact: CDG (Scottish) Division Secretary, Jennifer Hosie e: jenniferhosie@aol.com

Further information on Revalidation: Amanda Quick, CDG (Scottish Division) Candidate Support Officer for Revalidation. e: manda_quick@yahoo.co.uk

>>Ball, Joanna: Revalidation Revealed. Impact: journal of the Career Development Group, Winter 2005 Volume 8 No.4.
>>Park, Daniel. Expanding Your Horizons: Revalidation for Chartered information professionals in non-traditional workplaces. Impact: journal of the Career Development Group, Autumn 2006 Volume 9 No.3.

Information Scotland Vol. 5(5) October 2007

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