Design and Design Education as a Profession: Professional Registration and Membership of Societies for Designers and Design Educators; Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Abstract

Professional Development This chapter starts by outlining the typical career trajectory that might be undertaken as a professional designer, from student to expert designer, and what different descriptive levels mean, illustrated using a table of professional competencies developed by Michael Eraut, which is used as background to identifying professional competencies at different levels. The position of Design Educators is discussed. Professional registration and membership of societies for designers and design educators. This covers the need and desirability of professional registration. The memberships available from the Chartered Society of Designers and the Institution of Engineering Designers are described, together with an outline of the Engineering Council’s registration grades available through the bodies it licences. The Higher Education Academy’s professional recognition scheme for teaching staff in Higher Education is outlined, and Eraut’s outline table of competencies is used to show how these relate to each other. Registration processes and assessment of professional levels are covered. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Each society expects its members to be engaged in Continuing Professional Development. This section asks whether this is realistic, and why. It then takes a broad brush treatment of CPD and investigates ways to carry it out, to keep the records and then to evaluate the development that has taken place.