Continuing Professional Education in Today's Changing World

In his classic work, The Inquiring Mind, Cyril O. Houle noted the "value of widespread lifelong learning in professional and vocational accomplishment. The need to maintain and enhance occupational skills has been brought home forcefully by the competition of the market, the rapid advancement of knowledge in every field, the need to cope successfully with larger and more complex forms of ... knowledge and the steady raising of acceptable levels of performance," (1961, p. 81). Despite the age of these words, they are nonetheless true today Houle was also correct in his assessment of a rapidly changing world--especially in the field of adult and continuing education. In this issue of Adult Learning, a variety of adult and continuing education scholars and practitioners offer an intriguing array of articles that address many of the challenges Houle noted. The articles herein focus on the use of research in improving practice, online professional learning, mentoring and peer-based learning, diversity and multicultural issues in CPE, participation in CPE and ethics. In Mary Ziegler's article, Improving Practice through Action Research, she makes the very strong case that the tenets inherent in action research make it an ideal means of improving practice and therefore a "powerful tool for continuing professional education." Ziegler identifies eight steps that frame the action research model she and her colleagues use to help improve practice and promote continuing professional development. In a similar vein, Faye Wiesenberg and Jo-Anne Willment describe how distance-learning technologies used in graduate education help create online learning communities that enhance continuing professional education. Wiesenberg and Willment note the importance of ongoing reflection, dialogue and mutual respect in both online learning and continuing professional education. The focus of the issue then shifts somewhat to a more relational aspect of CPE as Catherine Hansman focuses on mentoring and Mary-Jane Eisen discusses peer-based learning as ways to facilitate professional development. Hansman reminds us [as Cervero (1988, 1992) and others have in the past!] that the most "effective models of CPE include opportunities for participants to learn from and in their everyday work practice." These models can include the mentors with who they work. Eisen then introduces us to chavrusa, a Hebrew concept meaning partner-based study, and suggests that our continuing professional education as well as personal development can be facilitated through "bi-directional peer relationships." The next two articles in the issue deal with an increasingly important aspect of CPE, intercultural communication and the multilingual and multicultural environments in which CPE is practiced throughout the world. Linda Ziegahn examines three common myths in the area of workplace diversity and suggests that continuing professional educators are in a "unique position to help professionals redefine the way they do business, especially around issues of culture and inclusion." Marie Cseh's article on multilingual and multicultural environments gets at the very heart of how continuing education can promote global interconnectedness. She maintains that continuing professional educators are key players in promoting strategic development and fostering effective CPE for practitioners worldwide. Jeffery Alejandro adds a different approach to the role of CPE in today's changing world and workplace. …