How do I become an Associate Member of CLDSC?

Currently registration with the CLD Standards Council is not mandatory for community learning and development practitioners. The Scottish Government may consider changes to this in the future, but for the moment the following information should be of assistance to volunteers who wish to register as Associate Members of the CLD Standards Council.

Commitment to CLD practitioners’ standards

All practitioners seeking to register as Associate Members of the Standards Council must formally commit to the following principles:

  • Commitment to the values underpinning CLD
  • Commitment to the Code of Ethics for CLD
  • Commitment to ongoing Professional Learning
  • Commitment to practice using the CLD competencies

Length of practice

While there is no minimum time set for a volunteer to have been practising CLD before registering as an Associate Member of the CLD Standards Council, those applying to register will require to have been volunteering in CLD for a sufficient period of time to acquire a reference and to provide some information about their volunteer role and the duration of their practice.

Professional Learning

The number of hours of professional learning required for Associate Members to maintain their registration is linked to their volunteer hours.   For example, a youth worker who volunteers two evenings per week for 3 hours would be expected to show they had undertaken 6 hours of professional learning over a year when they come to renew their registration.  

Rather than simply meet this minimum, the CLDSC is keen to support volunteers to access the opportunities they need to develop their practice based on the CLD competencies. One of the key aims of this theme within idevelop is to highlight the range of professional learning opportunities available for volunteers and to encourage the development of further programmes and activities. We would encourage volunteers, ideally supported by those who deploy them, to keep a reflective record of their learning and the outcomes of this for their practice. 

Last modified: Tuesday, 1 June 2021, 1:53 PM