Continuing Professional

Development
A step-by-step guide

MUSEUMS
ASSOCIATION
Contents

Introduction 4
Planning: Writing your CPD plan 6
Action: Writing your CPD log 12
Reflection: Writing your CPD summary 14
Museums Association CPD schemes 18
Useful resources 19
Continuing Professional
Development
A step-by-step guide

This guide will:

• explain what Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) is
and why you should do it
• take you through the practical steps
of how to do CPD
• give you the tools to carry out CPD
on your own initiative
• give details of the professional
CPD schemes administered by the
Museums Association (MA).

3
Introduction

CPD enables you to take

responsibility for enhancing
your knowledge, skills and
competence throughout
your career.

CPD Why do CPD?

• is about job satisfaction as well as career enhancement
• benefits the individual, employer and sector as a whole
• helps you achieve your goals through carefully planned
and personally tailored activities and reflection
• is controlled and driven by you, while you work.
CPD enables you to plan your learning and development
proactively, and equips you to meet personal and
professional challenges. It helps you to update your
knowledge and skills, prepare for changing roles in your
organisation and take on new responsibilities. CPD is a
bridge between where you are now and where you want
to be.

4
What are the benefits?
To the individual, CPD: Why enrol in a professional scheme?
• improves your personal and professional abilities If you enrole in a scheme such as the AMA, you will receive
• increases your ability to spot opportunities and cope with formal acknowledgement for the CPD you are doing and
change and challenges benefit from the support of a mentor. You will also have
• helps you plan your development to fit the way you learn access to further advice, formal feedback on your
best paperwork and additional support through workshops,
• helps you make the best use of resources reviewers and assessors.
• encourages you to proactively plan a career path
The MA administers several CPD schemes depending on
• gives you professional recognition
what stage you are at in your career. The schemes are
• helps you develop networks and professional contacts
centred on the CPD tools detailed in this guide. For more
• helps you to keep up to date with developments within
information see Museums Association CPD schemes
the profession
on p18.
• shows your commitment to continuing improvement
• enhances your current position and improves job
satisfaction.
To the employing organisation, CPD:
• develops staff in a cost-effective way
• improves the personal and professional competence of CPD has three essential elements – planning, action
staff to achieve organisational objectives and cope with and reflection. These apply if CPD is carried out
challenges and changes through a professional scheme, such as the
• improves internal and external networks and Associateship of the Museums Association (AMA) or
communication Fellowship of the Museums Association (FMA), or is
• encourages a dynamic approach to learning and self-driven.
development
There are tools to help you fulfil these three elements; a
• improves motivation, job satisfaction and retention of staff
CPD plan, a log and a summary. This section explains
• enables succession planning through development of
how to use these tools and how to get started with
staff to fill future roles
CPD.
• demonstrates organisational commitment to standards
of excellence, and lifelong learning. Before reading through the following sections it
would be helpful to print off a blank CPD plan,
To the museum profession, CPD:
log and summary to refer to. These can be
• enables people from different museums to continually
downloaded from the MA website at
share and update skills and knowledge in a focused way
www.museumsassociation/cpd
• helps maintain and raise standards of excellence within
the profession
• helps maintain high levels of competence and capacity
to respond positively to change.

5
Planning: Writing
your CPD plan

Planning: How to write a CPD plan

A CPD plan is a framework for you to:
• list the current main areas of your work
• articulate your longer-term aspirations
• identify your goals for the next two years
• define what you need to learn and develop in order to
achieve your goals
• determine which specific activities will meet your needs.
Each CPD plan will be different because no two individuals
will do exactly the same job or have the same aspirations,
abilities, opportunities, learning styles or needs. A CPD plan
will map out what you need to achieve over the next two
years to take your career forward.

Step 1
Self-assessment: Where are you currently?
List what you currently do under a few broad headings.
You could begin by looking at your job description.
Consider whether it corresponds to your actual
responsibilities, duties and activities. You need to know
and understand what you do before you can plan your
development.
Think about the skills and knowledge that you have to
perform those tasks or activities effectively and write
them down. At what level are your skills? Think
specifically rather than generally. Do you need to develop
your skills in these areas, how much of a priority is this?
Step 2
Write a SWOT analysis
List your current abilities and situation under the following
headings:
Strengths – what are the things that I do well?
Weaknesses – where do I need to improve?
Opportunities – what new opportunities are there for me?
Threats – what challenges are there for me?
The SWOT framework helps you identify your strengths,
the areas you would like to develop and where the
greatest opportunities lie. It also shows where you are
weaker or face a potential threat so that you can take
action to address these areas. You may find it useful to
involve others such as your line manager, colleagues and
critical friends when carrying out this analysis.

Step 3
Current roles
From your self assessment, pick out the areas of your
current work that you would like to concentrate on and
develop. Think about what you have learned about
yourself through your SWOT analysis. Write down
specific areas of your current work that you would like to
develop in the first column of your CPD plan.
Step 4
Future aspirations
Consider your immediate career prospects and think
beyond them to the limits of your appetite and ability
to make your mark as a professional. What are your
long-term aspirations? Most CPD plans list two or three
of these. You will not be held to them, but unless you
think about what you truly want to do in the future you
cannot plan for it. Write down two or three future
aspirations in the first column of your CPD plan, beneath
your current roles.

6
Step 5
Goals
Your goals are the building blocks to help you achieve your
longer-term aspirations. They need to be compatible with
your immediate personal circumstances and
opportunities.
To help you establish your goals consider the following
questions:
• what areas of your current role would you like to develop
further?
• to achieve the promotion or change in career that you
aspire to, what improvements in work performance will
you have to make?
• what further knowledge and qualifications do you need?
• in what areas do you need to develop greater
self-confidence or upgrade your skills?
• what is realistically achievable in the next two years?
How CPD fits in with your organisational
goals and personal ambitions
It is helpful to recognise where CPD fits in with other
demands on your time. The diagram below shows that
there is some overlap between organisational goals and
personal ambitions, but there is also some distinction
between all three areas:
Professional Goal
goals (CPD)
Personal Organisational
ambitions goals (appraisal)
Organisational goals: These are often identified during
your appraisal. Some goals will directly relate to your
organisation, but will not fit with your professional goals
(do not write these on your plan). For example, you may
have an appraisal target of documenting 500 objects, but
although documentation is a major part of your current role
it is not an area you want to pursue in the future.
Step 5
Goals
There will also be some organisational goals that overlap
with your professional goals. For example, you may
identify the need to develop your PowerPoint and
presentation skills to help you in your current job, and to
equip you with a skill to take forward in the future. These
goals should feature on your CPD plan.
Professional or CPD goals: These form the basis of
your CPD plan. An example of a distinct CPD goal may be
to gain some experience of fundraising, something that
you do not have the opportunity to do in your current role
but you recognise as a vital skill that you are lacking.
Personal ambitions: Learning a language might be an
example of both a personal ambition and a CPD goal – a
skill you have always wanted and something that may help
you in your future career.
Try to distinguish between all three areas and identify any
overlaps.
Most CPD plans identify goals to be achieved over the
next 18-24 months. Be sensible about what you can
achieve in that time frame. Write down four or five realistic
goals in the second column of your plan.
Example:
To improve my project management skills to be able to
take the lead in small projects.
7
Planning: Writing
your CPD plan

Step 6
Learning and development needs
You have identified your goals. Now break them down
into what you need to learn or how you need to develop in
order to achieve them. Think of needs in terms of your
skills, knowledge and understanding and not in terms of
resources. Your needs are the link between your goals and
the specific activities you will identify. You may have the
same or similar goal as someone else but your needs will
be different as they are defined by what you know or can
do already, and the method in which you learn best.
Look systematically at each of your goals. To make them
manageable you will need to consider what is achievable
considering the resources and time available to you.
Revisit your SWOT analysis and identify any related
strengths and weaknesses. You may find it useful to think
about the following questions when breaking down your
goals into needs:
• what do I do well?
• what could I do better?
• what new knowledge and skills might I need?
• what new knowledge and skills might my organisation
need from me?
Identify and write down a set of specific learning and
development needs for each of your goals in the third
column of your CPD plan.

Example:
Goal Needs
To improve my project management skills to be Understand basic project management techniques and tools.
able to take the lead in small projects. Understand how techniques and tools are put into practice.
Utilise new skills on a practical project.

8
Step 7
Specific development activities
Once you have identified your goals and defined your
needs your next step is to determine which specific
activities will meet those needs. Consider work-based and
professional activities and formal and informal learning.
These could include:
Work-based
• secondments (inside and outside the organisation)
• special projects
• shadowing others
• contributing to planning, such as strategic or forward
planning
• liaising with other organisations.
Professional
• joining a CPD support group
• involvement with a regional agency or federation, a
specialist group or MA or ICOM committee.
Formal learning
• professional or vocational courses
• attending short courses, conferences, seminars and
workshops
• lecturing
• writing or reviewing conference papers
• running or contributing to seminars, workshops or
conferences.
Informal learning
• reading and reviewing journals, books, newspapers
• using other learning materials eg videos, CD-Roms,
audio tapes
• using the internet.
When defining your activities ensure they are clear, detailed
and explicit. State the actual course/conference/training
session you would like to attend and be specific about
who will be involved and when the activity is likely to
happen. It is important to put a time frame on each activity
to help you prioritise and make your plan realistic.
In the fourth column, write down a set of specific and
time-planned activities for each of your needs.

Example:
Goal Needs Activities
To improve my project management Understand basic project management Read The Art of Project
skills to be able to take the lead in techniques and tools. Management by Scott Berkun
small projects. O’Reilly by October 2007
Understand how techniques and tools Attend MLA Yorkshire Project
are put into practice. Management for Beginners course
25 November 2007
Utilise new skills on a practical project. Meet with two managers (one
within organisation and one
external) to discuss good project
management techniques
Jan–Feb 2008
Take leading role in redesigning
summer education programme
Apr– Jun 2008

9
Planning: Writing
your CPD plan

Step 8 Current roles/future Goals

aspirations Where next?
Needs
What do I need to do
Networking Where am I now? to get there?
Networking is an important aspect of professional Where would I like my
development, and a thread that should run explicitly career to take me?
throughout your plan. Planned activities should improve Current roles To improve my Understand basic
the quality of your working relationships and your ability to project project management
Writing and delivering
network across the museum sector and beyond. They management skills techniques and tools
education materials
should enable you to make a difference to your own and to enable me to
and workshops Understand how
others’ understanding, attitudes and professional work. take the lead on
techniques and tools
You can network at events, conferences, meetings and Supporting exhibition small projects
are put into practice
social occasions, but the important thing is that you talk teams with the
to people, share opinions and ideas and follow up on development of Utilise new skills on a
new contacts. temporary exhibitions practical project
Cataloguing, To develop a Increase my subject
Check that networking is evident within your plan. researching,
You have now completed your CPD plan, it should look specialism in specialist knowledge
documentation of the 19th-century
similar to the example shown (right). collection Increase my profile
working history
Future aspirations Develop my writing
and presentation skills
To gain a more senior
position in a small- to
medium-sized
museum
To have management
responsibilities To be confident in Learn about education
To be a confident using objects for methods and
communicator and education and techniques with regard
networker outreach work to object handling

To improve my project
management skills to
enable me to take the
lead on small projects

To have the ability Learn the procedures

to fundraise for and techniques for
special projects successful fundraising
Gain a knowledge of
potential sources of
Remember: You should make the most of help available funding
to you, but planning and implementing CPD is your
responsibility. Effective learners know best what they Gain experience in
need to learn. putting together
fundraising bids

10
Specific development activities
How can I meet my needs?
Read The Art of Project Management by Scott Berkun O’Reilly by
October 2007
Attend MLA Yorkshire Project Management for Beginners course.
25 November 2007
Meet with two managers (one internal and one external) to discuss
good project management techniques. Jan-Feb 2008
Take leading role in redesigning summer education programme.
Apr–Jun 2008
Read Studies in English Working Class History, 1832-1982 By
Gareth Stedman Jones and other relevant literature. Ongoing
Join Social History Curators Group – attend at least two events a
year. Ongoing
Write an article for SHCG News. Spring 2008
Give a talk to a local history group on an area of the collection by
March 2008
Seek critical feedback from colleagues on my article and talk by
May 2008
Attend GEM training course techniques in museum education.
Date to be confirmed
Observe two other staff running school and adult education
workshops. Jul / Aug 2008
Arrange to work shadow education and lifelong learning manager
at York Museum Trust. Sep / Oct 2008
Get feedback on education sessions from other staff. Ongoing
Give talk on museum collection to AMA support group. July 2008
Attend SHCG identifying objects course. 13 June 2008
Do at least three new workshops this year using objects from the
collection. Ongoing
Read Scottish Museum Council’s web fact sheets and advice on
fundraising. Sept 2008
Do a three-day secondment in the fundraising department at the
National Railway Museum. Oct 2008
Contact my regional agency for advice on sources of funding. Sept
2008
Put together a fundraising bid for community linked special
education activities. Jan-March 2009
How do I know my plan will work?
There are various techniques you can use to check that
your plan will work :
Check that it is SMART:
Specific – have you given enough detail in your plan?
Measurable – how will you know when you have
achieved a goal?
Achievable – have you been realistic when setting your
activities, needs and goals?
Relevant – does your plan link up? Will achieving your
goals help you on your way to your future aspirations?
Time-planned – have you time-tabled when you will do
your activities?
Read your plan backwards:
Starting with the last column, read your plan backwards.
Will your activities achieve your learning and development
needs, will your needs fulfil your goals?
Ask the opinion of peers and your line manager:
Your colleagues may offer informal support, particularly if
they are undertaking CPD themselves. Together you may
want to set up an informal support/learning group.
It may be appropriate to involve your line manager or your
training and development or personnel manager. If you
are part of a performance management/appraisal
system, this can link effectively with your CPD. Your
organisation may also be able to provide resources and
opportunities to help you achieve specific development
goals that can be written into your plan.
Add an extra column:
It may be useful to include an extra column to your plan,
to add further detail. For example, you may want to put
specific timings in or a ‘success criteria’ column to
identify when you have achieved a goal. You may even
want to link your plan directly to your work appraisal or
other training/development you are undertaking.
Regularly review your plan:
The CPD plan is only useful if it is relevant to your
circumstances. If your work or personal circumstances
change, you develop new aspirations, or change your
mind about what is needed, your plan should be
amended. It may be that certain planned activities are no
longer available or perhaps new opportunities present
themselves. You should review and amend your plan
each year.
11
Action: Writing
your CPD log
(a blank CPD log can be downloaded from
www.museumsassociation.org/cpd)
The CPD log is a record of all the major CPD activities you
have undertaken and their outcomes, ie what you have
learned and how you are applying this It is your personal
working record of your development.
Your log should be filled in regularly as you undertake key
CPD activities, or soon after. Your log should include:
• dates of development activities
• number of hours spent on development activities
• description of development activities
• what you have learned
• how you applied, are applying or will apply what you
have learned.
Step 1
When did I do it?
Go to your CPD log as soon as possible after each new
activity. You need it to be fresh in your memory to
describe it accurately and to reflect on what you learned.
Start by recording the date the activity took place. This
helps you focus on sticking to the time frames that are
important to the success of the plan.
Step 3
What did I do, why did I do it?
Provide a brief, descriptive summary of each activity you
have undertaken. Was it a presentation, a project, a
course, a piece of writing? What were your key learning
and development objectives, in other words, what were
you hoping to get from the activity and how did that relate
to your CPD plan?
12
You may also consider adding extra columns to record what
you still need to learn, and to cross reference to your CPD
plan or appraisal forms.
Your log needs to stimulate thorough reflection on your
accomplishments, new skills and abilities and initial thought
on how you will use them in your future development.
Step 2
How long did I spend on it?
Monitoring the hours you are allocating to your CPD helps
you assess how effectively you are using your time.
Remember to count the time preparing for, spent at and
following up professional meetings that you are using as
development opportunities, as well as the time spent
reading and at conferences and courses.
Once you have acquired the skill, do not count hours
performing it. Be rigorous about adding only time spent in
purposeful, new learning rather than hours just doing your
job. As a guide, if you are doing a professional CPD
scheme you are required to complete a minimum of 35
hours each year – a conservative figure that most people
far exceed.
Step 4
What did I learn, how can I apply it?
You should assess what learning objectives have been
fulfilled by the activity and what is still lacking. If your
objectives have not been fully met, then think about what
other activities you could do to work towards them. You
may not have learned or achieved what you expected to
but it is probably still valuable. You may have discovered
a strength or weakness in yourself, or maybe what you
have learned could contribute towards a different goal.
Consider:
• how your learning relates back to your CPD plan
• what you need to do better/differently/change/improve
• if you can apply your new knowledge and skills to other
areas of your work to help you become more effective
• if your new skills prepare you for planned future
responsibilities and challenges.
Example of an extract from a CPD log

Remember: You should view investment of time in CPD

as an important and valuable museum activity. CPD
benefits you and your employers, museums generally and
ultimately the public that they serve.

Dates Number of hours CPD Activities What did I learn, how can I apply it?
What did I do, why
did I do it?

5 - 20 Sept 4 hours Read The Art of • How to define a project and what prep work
Project Management needs to be done
and made notes on
• The basic tools of project management including
relevant sections
Gantt charts and responsibility assessment
matrix
• Some of the language involved with project
management
I understand some of the basic principles but am
still not sure how to apply them. I feel armed with
many questions now for my subsequent meetings
with managers about project management and
my project management course.

25 Nov 5 hours Attended Project • Learned the theory in more detail

Management for
• Had practice of using some of the project
Beginners course at
management tools: including defining tasks, task
MLA Yorkshire
dependency and drawing a Gantt chart and
defining the critical path
• Found out about risk assessment
• Had many of my questions answered
I’m keen to apply some of my new knowledge to
existing projects and try out some of the tools. I’ve
created a Gantt chart for our existing events
programme (even though I created this part way
through the project it has still proved useful). Also
made some useful contacts at the course, will try
to keep in touch with at least two people to
discuss project management issues.

17 Jan 1 hour Met with the director Discovered how some of the techniques I’ve
of lifelong learning at learned can be put into practice. Talked through a
York Museums Trust project from beginning to end and found out where
to discuss project mistakes are easily made and what problems often
management of come up. It was very useful to have a frank
education discussion about what did and didn’t work on a
programmes particular project and what York Museums Trust
has learned from that.

13
Reflection: Writing
your CPD summary
(a blank CPD summary can be downloaded from www.museumsassociation.org/cpd)
Writing your summary
The CPD summary shows that you are able to review,
summarise and evaluate your own development. It does
this by stating concisely the key areas in which you have
developed, what and how you have learned, who or what
helped you and what you still need to learn.
The summary is split into two main sections. The first
looks at what you have achieved under four key
categories of learning; the second enables you to look at
the impact CPD has had on you, your current job and
developing career
Revising your plan
Once you have written your summary, it is a good time to
revise your CPD plan. What you want to achieve will
change with circumstances and as you learn more about
yourself. As you complete your activities and achieve your
goals you will need to identify new challenges. It is
important that you regularly revise your plan, preferably
every year or if you change your job role.
All CPD forms can be downloaded from the MA’s
website at www.museumsassociation.org/cpd
14
Section A
Key categories of learning
In this section you should summarise your main areas of
professional development during the previous year, under
the four main headings. You may decide not to give each
heading equal weight but it is important that you include
enough detail to demonstrate what you have achieved
and how you have developed. As this is a summary you
should limit your word length to around 600 words for the
whole of section A.
1 Personal
competence
This includes interpersonal skills, and self-management,
such as time management. It also relates to your ability to
establish and develop working relationships within and
beyond your workplace, with colleagues, users and
communities, elected members, trustees, representatives
of funding bodies and others. For example you could
write about how you have created time to think, how you
have learned to cope with interruptions and difficulties in
carrying out your job and about working smarter rather
than harder.
2 Management
knowledge and
skills
This includes the management of people, finance,
projects, information and other resources. Management
of people may include, but will not necessarily mean, line
management. Most professionals have to manage
relationships with colleagues, including those to whom
they report. Similarly, management of finance may
include, but will not necessarily mean, management of a
budget. For example, you could include how you have
negotiated getting information you need from colleagues;
learned about the implications for income and costs of
new developments at the museum; and how you have
learned to cope with change, such as a restructure at
your workplace – if that is a skill you identified for
development.
3 Professional
knowledge and
skills
This is the subject-matter expertise needed to carry out
and develop work within your specific discipline, for
example social history or ethnographic curatorship,
collections management, education, conservation,
retailing or database administration. This category also
covers involvement in, and contribution to, the wider
profession. What can you take from and, crucially, what
will you give to specialist or regional publications and/or
meetings? You can improve where you are and what you
do by learning from other places and disciplines. Under
this heading you could include examples such as
developing an access policy, disaster planning or
cataloguing 18th-century paintings.
4 Additional
knowledge and
skills
Depending on your circumstances this may include
activities as diverse as developing familiarity with a
software package, report writing or interviewing skills. It
might mean learning a foreign language to work with
colleagues abroad or developing chairing skills to lead
committees or meetings.
Section B
The impact of CPD
The types of question you should be considering under
this section include:
• what can you do now that you were not able to do
before undertaking CPD?
• to what extent has CPD led to greater job satisfaction?
• have you had any feedback from your managers or
users about what you have achieved?
• are your knowledge and skills now more current and do
they make you able to respond more favourably to
changes at work?
• have you fulfilled the learning needs and goals you set
out in your CPD plan?
• have you discovered what else you might want to learn
and achieve?
• have you been able to balance your own needs with the
needs of your organisation?
• were your development activities the right mix of
work-based, formal and informal, directed and
self-directed learning?
• are you now a more rounded professional?
• do you now have a better understanding of standards
of professional competence?
• are you now demonstrating higher standards of
practice?
• have your achievements had any impact within the
workplace or more broadly within the profession?
• are you more widely known, valued and respected
within and beyond your workplace?
• have you developed a network of contacts and
colleagues to support you in current work and future
developments?
These questions are designed to stimulate your thinking.
Use the questions and your CPD log as a prompt to write
a personal account reflecting what has struck you most
about your experience of CPD. We recommend about
700 words for this section.
Remember: You should not only plan but also record and
reflect on CPD activities. You are likely to learn best
through a continual and systematic cycle of planning,
analysis, action and review.
15
Example of a CPD
summary

CPD summary
A Key categories of learning
Please describe your main areas of professional development under the following headings.
It is unlikely that you will give them all equal weight.
NB Section A should be approximately 600 words in total (Your summary will be returned if you exceed this limit.)

1 Personal competence eg Interpersonal skills, self-management etc

Within several of my goals I have developed my presentation and writing abilities and boosted my communication and
networking skills. Having an article published was a long-term ambition that I had previously shied away from, so to have
an article appear in Social History Curators Group News was a great boost to my confidence and it has broken a mental
barrier. As a result of the article I have now been asked to talk at an international conference. Seeking feedback from
colleagues with regard to talks and articles was also a challenge but extremely rewarding. Constructive feedback has
helped me to shape my presentation technique and have the confidence to present to a variety of audiences.
2 Management knowledge and skills (including people, resources and projects)
My main focus has been developing my project management skills. I attended a project management for beginners
course which, combined with some background reading, gave me a basic grasp of the theory. Interviews with my line
manager and the director of lifelong learning at York Museums Trust helped me to put some of the theory into context,
and gave me more practical tips. I then had the confidence to take the lead on the summer education programme;
organising a series of events and a team of people to a tight deadline and budget. It gave me great satisfaction to see a
project through from beginning to end, and inspired me to want to take on a bigger challenge.

3 Professional knowledge and skills

I have made progress in two professional areas – my specialist expertise and my skills in using objects as part of
education sessions.
By attending and giving talks at local society meetings I have increased my personal and museum contacts. This has
increased my profile and led to subsequent object donations and collaborative working between a local history society
and the museum (a relationship that I hope to develop further in the future). Having the focus of writing an article has
given structure to my object research and reading around the subject.
Attending the techniques in museum education course and observing how education sessions are developed and run at
York Museums Trust has inspired me with ideas to try out in our own sessions. I have now set up a small working group
in my museum to develop new sessions – something I find both stimulating and rewarding.

4 Additional knowledge and skills

To increase my range of skills beyond curatorial and education I have gained some experience and knowledge of
fundraising. A three-day secondment in the fundraising department at the National Railway Museum was a great
introduction to this area. The secondment included work-shadowing, attending meetings, learning to put together an
application and seeking sources of funding. This intensive introduction gave me the impetus to try fundraising for a small
education project. I have had encouraging results and I hope to build on this success by putting together a more
ambitious bid for next year’s series of adult education sessions. Fundraising in this area is completely new to my museum
and my line manager is now keen to see me take the lead and develop this area further.

16
B The impact of CPD
NB Section B should be approximately 700 words in total (Your summary will be returned if you exceed this limit.)
What impact has CPD had:
• on your job?
• on your career plans?
• on your involvement with museums beyond your workplace?
I have found CPD a useful tool with which to stretch and challenge myself to do things that I would not otherwise choose
to do. Although my current role requires yearly appraisals and work plans, until I embarked on CPD, I had not thought
clearly about my future aspirations or what I needed to do to achieve them. Nor had I pushed myself to gain the skills that
did not come naturally to me. Writing a SWOT analysis enabled me identify the areas in which I am not confident. I then
used my CPD plan as a way of improving them, for example, by writing an article and seeking critical feedback from
colleagues on my presentation skills.
The most notable benefit that CPD has given me is the skill of networking and broadening my horizons outside the
bubble of my organisation and role within it. In addition to communicating through local, regional and national societies
and groups, I decided to take a proactive approach when faced with no active AMA support group in my area. Setting
up and running the group was a real challenge. It gave me experience in organising meetings, creating agendas, writing
minutes, liaising with guest speakers and delivering training. I regularly liaised with the Museums Association, my regional
agency and AMA candidates to set up meetings and workshops that boosted my communication and networking skills.
The experience has increased my confidence, improved my leadership skills and encouraged me to take on more
challenging projects at work.
CPD has also helped me to discover my preferred learning style. I find learning on my own a very isolating and
de-motivating experience. I value the dialogue and interaction with others on training courses or more informal sessions.
I have found the work-shadowing and secondment sessions particularly rewarding, as not only was I inspired by what
other museums achieve, but I was also gaining from one-to-one meetings with experienced staff. In particular, work-
shadowing the education manager at York Museums Trust was extremely useful, not just in terms of gaining ideas and
knowledge but also in making me think about my future career direction.
I have really moved forward in the past year, in terms of the skills I have gained and the responsibilities and initiatives I am
now instigating at work. This has undoubtedly increased the mutual respect and communication I have with my
colleagues. However, as I increase my responsibilities and introduce new initiatives at work I am more aware of the
demands on my time. I am now trying to be highly selective in the type of course, project or seminar that I seek, carefully
weighing up my own development needs and the expectation of my job to assess whether it is a priority. I shall also
make the development of my time-management skills a priority on my next CPD plan.
Although I have found my activities working towards developing a subject specialism rewarding, especially writing the
article, it is the work I have done using objects within education that has really inspired me. This has led me to think I will
pursue a more education and interpretation led career in the future. As this is a slight change of direction I feel I need to
do more research (such as reading job descriptions and talking to peers in such roles) into the potential avenues this
could lead to. I am certainly keen to use and develop my newly acquired project management and fundraising skills and
feel that this is all helping me further down the path to management. I am looking forward to increasing my management
potential by taking the next step of increasing my knowledge of strategic planning.

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Museums Association
CPD schemes
Professional schemes
The MA offers several professional development schemes,
the AMA, the FMA and CPD Plus.
Associateship of the Museums Association
(AMA)
The AMA is open to anyone working in or for a museum,
gallery, historic house or related organisation on a full-time,
part-time, voluntary or temporary basis. It is ideal for those
at their beginning to mid-career point. Most routes require
a minimum of three years’ experience by the time you are
ready to complete the AMA and attend a professional
review.
A mentor (an experienced museum professional with a
variety of skills) will help to guide you through the scheme,
advising you on your development.
A sound knowledge of museum ethics and topical issues
affecting the sector is required to achieve the AMA, as well
as a commitment to developing professionally. The AMA
takes a minimum of two years to complete.
Achieving the AMA is recognition of your experience,
qualifications, and skills and demonstrates your
commitment to museums and the public they serve.
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Fellowship of the Museums Association
(FMA)
Fellowship recognises and encourages an advanced level
of professional contribution, development and
achievement and a commitment to CPD by people in all
areas of museum work. It is open to those who have
worked in museums for at least five years, contributed to
museums at an advanced level, and been a member of the
MA for at least three years.
Fellowship is widely recognised both inside and outside the
profession as a mark of advanced individual achievement.
It signals an individual’s high level of contribution to the
sector to present and potential employers or clients.
CPD Plus
CPD Plus enables individuals to continue their professional
development in a structured way. It is open to those who
have achieved the AMA or the FMA, or those pre-registered
for the FMA or if you are an AMA mentor. There is no formal
mentoring structure so participants are encouraged to
mentor each other by forming learning sets with peers and
discussing and signing off each other’s paperwork. CPD
Plus acknowledges that participants have an up-to-date
CPD record with the MA and that they are proactively
continuing to develop professionally.
Further guidance and resources
If you would like more information on any of the above
schemes or CPD in general, or advice on which scheme
will be most suitable to you, please contact the
professional development team on 0207 4266955 or
visit www.museumsassociation.org/cpd
Useful resources

The MA has a range of publications, training events and

careers advice to support members undertaking CPD.
These include:

Museum Practice and Museums Journal

MP and MJ are two of the most respected and
authoritative publications for the sector. They are the
professionals’ choice for keeping up to date with all the
current issues facing museums, galleries and heritage
organisations.
Find out more at
www.museumsassociation.org/publications
Training events
In addition to free regional CPD workshops, the MA hosts
a programme of one-day conferences and training
courses designed to provide you with invaluable
knowledge and practical skills. These events bring you
face to face with expert practitioners and leading
thinkers. No other events give you access to the same
depth of experience and range of approaches.
Find out more at
www.museumsassociation.org/events

Career advice
Get online access to the most up to date career advice
and information. The jobs and careers section on the MA
website contains everything you need to know about job
hunting, volunteering and qualifications.
Find out more at
www.museumsassociation.org/careers

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 Museums Association
MUSEUMS 24 Calvin Street
ASSOCIATION London E1 6NW
T: 020 7426 6955
F: 020 7426 6961
www.museumsassociation.org
c
Image courtesy of
Manchester Museum