External Validation Of NIE’s PDQA Framework
At NIE, we pride ourselves as an institute of distinction and hence, quality in PD programmes and courses is defined as the finest educational experience that our teacher professionals can have in the learning process. The NIE Professional Development Quality Assessment (PDQA) Framework was implemented in 2015 for all PD programmes at NIE and it provides guidelines for the processes involved in offering high quality professional development (PD) and continuing education (CE) programmes. In line with its commitment to providing the finest PD and CE programmes, the Office of Graduate Studies and Professional Learning (GPL) engages an external consultant to validate NIE’s PDQA framework every three years.
This first validation effort since the implementation of the framework in 2015 was held over three days from 15 to17 January 2018. Professor Toby Greany, Professor of Leadership and Innovation from the Institute of Education at University College London, was the consultant.
The external validation involved site visits and in-depth reviews to ensure that NIE’s curriculum design, implementation and enactment processes, as well as PD programmes, were carried out in accordance with the PDQA Framework. The findings and recommendations from the current validation exercise will also inform the refinement of processes in the PDQA Frameworkexercise were also determined.
As part of the exercise, Professor Greany interviewed key stakeholders, including Heads of Academic Groups, PD Programme Leaders, Associate and Assistant Deans of PD and the Programme Manager of PD, to gain a deeper understanding of the PDQA processes. He also chaired a workshop with PD Programme Leaders to discuss what makes for good PD. These interactions with key stakeholders allowed Professor Greany to develop keen insights on the QA processes beyond the data from documents.
