CILIP Framework Of Qualifications

CILIP has commissioned Julie Carpenter of Education for Change Ltd and Nick Moore of Acumen to undertake a review of the Framework of Qualifications and Accreditation (FoQA). In this Review they are looking at the existing Framework of Qualifications processes, procedures and staffing structures and assessing their fitness for purpose. 

CILIP members who chartered under the 2005 regulations (or are in the process of doing so) are invited to complete a survey (link available through the LIS-CILIP-REG mailing list) giving their views of the current framework.

Since registering as a candidate, I've felt more than once that the process is little more than an exercise in bureaucracy, and that the MCLIP is a reward for jumping through the hoops, rather than a meaningful symbol of how you've progressed as a professional.

This is not to say that examining your working life is not worthwhile, but documents like the Body of Professional Knowledge, when coupled with the regulations, are not the easiest to decipher, and took up more of my time than I would have liked. When you factor in that many of us do this in our time outside work, and are unlikely to benefit financially from achieving chartership, it becomes easy to see why motivation can be a problem (says she who should have submitted by now).

However, good things are rarely easy to get (and would presumably be less good if they were), and many of us choose to apply for chartership even when there are few incentives. Chartered status is already a minimum requirement in many of the job descriptions that I see advertised, particularly in the school and public sectors, which only makes it more likely that new and recent graduates will continue to apply. We may see some devaluing of it too, as has been the case with honours degrees. If every librarian and her dog are chartered, it could become an expected requirement for the majority of posts, and therefore less distinctive (if it ever was). My guess though is that this is unlikely for now, unless there are changes to the process to make it less complicated for starters.

I hope that CILIP will keep members informed of the progress of this 'investigation'. Change management consultants must be laughing all the way to the bank when so many cash-strapped organisations see them as the only way out of their financial worries