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Chapter 3: Spectrum of Learning and Development

employee development is the foundation on which the confidence and competence of individual staff is buiilt. it is for all posts and people within an organisation. implementation of the scottish credit and qualifications framework will make it possible to build up credit from a range of learning which can contribute towards qualifications and help with recognition of prior learning and credit transfer from previously gained qualifications.

Even with policies in place and everyone committed to the principle of continuous learning and development, it is important to acknowledge the challenge of meeting the full range of learning and development needs in organisations ranging from induction, core social services qualification provision and continuing employee development for all staff.

Recognised Prior Learning ( RPL) and the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework ( SCQF) are key tools in helping organisations realise employee development along this continuum of lifelong learning.

From 2001, mainstream Scottish qualifications have been brought into a single framework, known as the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework. ²⁴ For social services the SCQF is being developed, implemented and promoted through the SCQF Co-ordination Group for Social Services.

The SCQF will help learners to transfer credit from programme to programme and to gain credit for informal or work based learning. It provides an exciting opportunity for the sector, and for individuals, to demonstrate and gain recognition for knowledge and skills they already have and has huge benefits for the individual as well as employers. The SCQF will:

• guide people of all ages and circumstances to appropriate education and training;
• help people to plan and follow through their learning throughout their lifetime;
• open up possibilities of entry to courses, of being able to transfer knowledge and experience gained previously, of exit and re-entry when career and family demands allow;
• contribute to breaking down of traditional barriers to education;
• help avoid duplication of effort and maximise flexibility; and
• make clear comparisons between qualifications.

The SCQF aims to be open, transparent and useful. It helps people to compare learning and qualifications at different levels and to make decisions about ways forward for employee development and for lifelong learning. It makes it possible to build up credit from a range of learning which can contribute towards qualifications.

Spotlight on Practice: Advanced Entry

James Watt College and University of Strathclyde

James Watt College in Greenock and the University of Strathclyde exemplify how some Further and Higher Educational establishments are working together, using the SCQF, to ensure candidates are given real opportunities to use their existing qualifications to fast track into degrees, e.g. workers who have completed an HNC in Childcare and Education may start the BA Childhood Studies degree in year two. Other colleges and universities in Scotland have similar articulation arrangements.

This learning could come from a range of sources including informal learning gained through life and work experiences, volunteering, learning from work based training, short courses and qualifications gained in the social services sector and in other sectors. It helps to open up education for workers at all levels and promote positive learning cultures within the workplace.

Spotlight on Practice: Recognition of Prior Learning

ORCHA, SSSC and crossreach

The SSSC is working with ORCHA (Organisation of Residential Care Homes Angus) and CrossReach (Church of Scotland) to develop systems and a tool to support RPL for both formative recognition and for credit towards SVQ2 and 3. This involves using the organisations' induction programmes to gather evidence for SVQs in such a way to avoid duplicating time and effort, to develop a tool to enable learners to provide this evidence and to develop alternative systems for different types of learners.

Scotland's colleges of further and higher education, as well as universities and other training providers should use the SCQF to its fullest extent. To fully realise our vision for developing a confident and competent social service workforce in Scotland, it is essential that we agree and establish for the sector:

• national arrangements for articulation between qualifications;
• national mechanisms to allow learners to gain credit for the learning they have done; and
• recognition by other institutions of these qualifications and credit when they begin further study or learning.

One of the most common frustrations expressed by learners (and their employers) is that they find it difficult to have previous learning recognised. It is, therefore, important that effective use is now made of the SCQF Guidelines for the Recognition of Prior Informal Learning²⁵ and on Credit Rating and Credit Transfer to integrate formal and informal learning. This will enable the most efficient use of resources for learning and development and maximise the opportunities for credit accumulation and transfer for social service workers.

Induction

The first important feature of a learning organisation is a structured and standardised process for introducing staff to the organisation (or in the case of many care staff, to the sector). However, people's experiences of induction can vary considerably.

Elsewhere in the UK, employers are successfully using the TOPSS Induction Standards, ²⁶ or frameworks derived from these standards, to have a consistent approach to staff induction. To help employers in establishing standardised, structured approaches to induction, the SSSC, in collaboration with employers and other stakeholders, will develop a national induction framework for all social services staff in Scotland by April 2006.

Spotlight on Practice: Induction

Care Visions, Dumfriesshire

Prior to beginning work, new staff spend 10 days participating in an induction package delivered by a range of management staff. Using various interactive delivery methods, the staff benefit from a formal induction programme by coming to understand the value system that underpins their work with children and how thinking differently will open them to dealing effectively with difficult behaviours. During the induction period both the staff and management have the opportunity to decide if the fit is the right one.

Meeting the SSSC requirements for Registration

Organisations have a range of responsibilities in relation to the provision of qualifications for social services staff, linked to the qualification requirements for registration with the SSSC²⁷ and with other regulators recognised for employment in this sector.

Under the Codes of Practice for Social Service Workers and Employers, employers must support staff to undertake relevant education and training necessary to enable them to fulfil their roles. For care staff, many employers have put in place the structures and processes needed for staff to gain SVQs, Higher National and other qualifications relevant to their job roles. Employers must also be committed to providing and supporting learning opportunities for a range of staff and involving staff in the delivery of practice learning. Some employers are already contributing positively to the work of the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education and SSSC Practice Learning Project.

Employee development

When an organisation is planning how to meet the development needs of employees, it should take account of how care needs are changing and that social service workers may in future be coming from a wider range of experiences and backgrounds. All staff in the social service workforce need to be prepared and supported to work flexibly and in a variety of settings. Helping staff to improve their skills in joint working will help to equip them to deliver the integrated services required by a range of policies (Joint Future, Integrated Children's Services and Criminal Justice). By providing opportunities for all staff to think about the way they work, employers can enhance the value of any training and help social service workers at every level to play an active role in improving the quality of the service they deliver.

Spotlight on Practice: mentoring

NHS Glasgow & NHS Borders

The Cross Agency Mentoring Programme, coordinated by the Scottish Leadership Foundation involves establishing working relationships where a more experienced person helps a less experienced person to develop their career. Mentors from Health, Social Work and a Voluntary Housing Association are trained together to be mentors for a colleague outside their own area. Benefits include improved communications between agencies which leads to a more joined up patient experience. Mentoring is a powerful tool for motivating, retaining and diversifying staff.

Employee development is the foundation on which the confidence and competence of individual members of staff is built. Employee development is for all posts and people within an organisation not just those with a professional qualification. It also helps focus on the need for individuals to take responsibility for their own development. Employee development for the social service workforce includes:

• experiential learning, which takes place through life, volunteering and work experiences, and is often, but not always, unintentional learning;
• informal and work based learning, often provided by or supported by employers, such as induction and inhouse courses, job shadowing, secondment, coaching, mentoring and peer group learning;
• formal learning, normally leading to a recognised award within the SCQF;
• qualifications required for registration - with SSSC and other recognised regulators; and
• post registration training and learning requirements necessary to maintain registration status.

Improving Front Line Services: A Framework for Supporting Front Line Staff 2005²⁸ - states that employee development is everyone's responsibility; it is something that employers do 'with' their employees. An employer who provides good opportunities for employee development and a positive learning environment to support learners will be more attractive and more able to recruit and keep staff.

Effective Methods of Delivery

We must consider ways to deliver learning and development in a way that makes more efficient use of existing resources (such as universities and the college sector) and solves some of the difficulties employers face in giving their staff access to learning.

Staff Release Issues

Managers juggle the demands of providing a service while meeting the development needs of staff. They have to make difficult decisions, balancing service needs with the need for staff to gain qualifications. Managers often work hard to find solutions to the challenges presented by the need to release staff for education, training and development.

Spotlight on Practice: flexible learning

Highland and Moray Accredited Training Services (Hi MATS)

Hi MATS aims to provide SVQ Level 4 training over a wide rural area, but without the hassle of travel. Through the use of an online software application candidates will be able to access their course work and chat rooms for feedback sessions and support. Candidates will be able to go online either on their home PC, with a borrowed laptop or at a Learning Centre. All candidates will also receive face to face mentoring and coaching to support their new learning. Records are maintained within an online 'electronic portfolio'.

When releasing staff to take part in education, training or other learning and development activities, managers must also have the resources (either in terms of financial resources to cover staff replacement costs, or in terms of having staff available to provide cover for the employees who have been released) to make sure acceptable levels of service are maintained. This is especially difficult for small and medium sized organisations, which often do not have the flexibility to replace staff.

It is clear that steps must be taken to reduce replacement costs. This can be achieved through:

• greater flexibility of training provision;
• expanding learning and development opportunities;
• creating flexible learning through making the best use of information and communication technologies to share information; and
• making the best use of technology to deliver services

The Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education's ( SIESWE) project, the Learning Exchange²⁹ (formerly Stòr Cùram) is developing online learning resources for the new Social Work degree. This project is being extended to support learning and development of the whole workforce. In time, it will be available not just to education providers, but to everyone working in social services. The work of the Colleges Open Learning Exchange Group ³⁰ ( COLEG) should also be used to share distance learning resources.

Finally, employers, universities and the college sector along with other training providers must work in partnership to provide formal and informal learning (e.g inservice provision; action learning; inhouse 'support' groups, etc.). However, as described earlier, successfully combining formal and informal learning is dependent on the recognition of achievement not directly linked to formal learning as a means of gaining credit.

All these developments will provide a framework in which effective workforce development can take place. Such developments, if taken forward by a range of stakeholders, are challenging but achievable and will support achieving the vision of having a competent, confident and valued workforce.

KEY MESSAGES

• We need to find effective ways for people to gain recognition for the skills they already have.
• It's everyone's responsibility to make sure that employee development happens.
• We need to create opportunities for learning and development that allow people to learn in more flexible ways.

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