ARTICLE 3 : Trends and Issues in Continuing Professional Education

AUTHOR
: Cervero, Ronald.M Source: New Directions for Adult and Continuing
Education no86 (Summer 2000) p.3-12 I
SUMMARY
In the early stage of Professional Education, many leaders in profession were
believed basic professional education and some refreshment activity were sufficient for
are lifetime of work. It involve many human, resources and financial costly to support
professional education. However due to rapid changes in many areas such as social
changes, research based knowledge, technology innovations, and economic changes,
leaders began to understand that they need to prepare people continually through
continuing education and it lead to Continuing Professional Education (CPE)
development. In order to create effective continuing education, most professional go
through transitional stage and definitely experimenting many different purposes, forms
and institutional in order to meet the challenges. Begun in 1960s until nowadays,
systems of continuing education grow in the transitional period to achieve coherent, size
and stature equivalent of professional education. According to Houle (1980), the leader
of most professions would probably agree that what we hardly dare prophesy today will
be seen by later generations as efforts to achieve a manifest necessity. The concern of
Cevero in this article is to describe four (4) emerging trends and three (3) critical issues
in 1990s that must be address in developing the system of continuing education for
profession. A first changing trend is the amount of continuing education offered at the
workplace dwarf that offered by any other type of provider and surpasses that of all the
other providers combined. Many organisation start to invest much where it involve

million to billion for formal professional education and nothing about on job training.
However the observer figure out most of the professional education program is
underestimating between the dollar spent and the number of people trained. If compare
to public universities, the organisation are spend more for those continuing education.
Second trend is the universities and the professional association are active and play
role as important providers. The number of program offered in distance education
formats are increasing which is facilitating the professional to continue education. The
distance learning grows and in 1998 the Western Governors Universities become
complete virtual university that offered its continuing education for professional through
web and satellite TV. Its then privatised and turning to California Virtual University
Foundation which includes the states university systems and several high tech
companies where all the courses are entirely online. Meanwhile more than five
thousand American and Canadian of Professional associations have provided
continuing education as their primary function. Third trend contribute to economic
development shows an increasing number of collaborative arrangements among
providers especially between public universities and workplace then it expand to
engage contact within training providers and corporation. The last trend is continuing
education is being used more frequently to regulate professionals practice. Most
profession use mandatory continuing either licensed or certificate to regulate their
practice. Meanwhile the issue occur in developing the CE system is involve the main
objective either updating professional knowledge or improving professional practice.
The content and educational design of the system must take into ongoing individual and
collective practise of professional. Then another issue occur in to be tackle is who will

get benefits from CE either learning agenda or politic-economic agenda. However we

know that the program will benefit the individual and organisation. The last issue is who
is supposed to in charge especially in partnership or collaboration program of CE either
the universities or the corporation. It should consider the content design, cost, losses
and revenue. All the stakeholders should participate in a substantive way immediate
and long term negotiation of the struggles in order to define whether CE can make a
demonstrable impact on quality of practice.

CONCLUSION
Educate professional in their profession is see as something vital and should
happen continuously because world change over time then its effect the development of
profession. As example in term of work process, at first place people get used to do
process manually but then changing to ICT as the demand of the world change. Either
it is university, association, or organisation need to be prepared with strategy of
Continuing Professional Education and co-operate together since universities need the
experience of practitioner and the organisation or association need proven research by
the universities. This strong relationship among them will help to give the direction on
CPE future. Even tough the political-economic agenda issue highlight as the most field
that get benefits from the development of CPE,it not showing they are expert in handling
the whole program. In order to update the professional knowledge and so professional
practise, the system of CPE need the idea and effort from the universities, association,
organisation and politic-economic support. A system in CPE is see as mutual depending
for ensure it response to the rapid changing in demand.