This subject offers a general framework and specific strategies for collaborative professional development, and is built on the following propositions, which are supported and illustrated by readings and activities: professional practitioners are critical, thoughtful decision makers who approach their work with an inquiry, solution-oriented approach; workplace learning is powerfully shaped by physical, social, economic and political contexts; practitioners produce knowledge in the workplace; action research is an effective method of systematically examining practitioner knowledge; professional competence develops through assisted, autonomous and collaborative levels; collaborative professionals work together in learning communities; collaborative professional development involves support, challenge and advocacy at personal, professional and collective levels; effective workplace collaborative relationships produce benefits for all participants and organisations; effective workplace collaborative relationships involve individual skill development; specific techniques such as critical incident analysis, clinical supervision observation cycles, reflective learning journals, learning conversations, establishment of critical friend relationships contribute to collaborative professional development; effective workplace collaborative relationships require structural, organisational and leadership support.

Students will be expected to critically examine these propositions and apply them to their own workplace. As a major intended outcome of the subject is the development of skills in workplace collaborative professional development, students will be involved in a practicum component, eg.: working with a peer or a beginning practitioner, in a leadership role, as a trainer, as a critical friend, or as a co-inquirer. Establishment and analysis of this practicum, along with a critique of the issues raised by the readings will constitute the assessment of this subject. Students will be required to negotiate, implement and critically evaluate an action research project for collaborative professional development relevant to their workplace.