WIREDGOV

Following their consultation with the Community Learning and Development (CLD) sector, the CLD Standards Council for Scotland have published a Code of Ethics for CLD. 

In December 2009, the Standards Council decided to pursue a voluntary registration system with a minimum sign-up requirement including individual commitment to a Code of Ethics. The Code was then drafted by Professor Howard Sercombe and refined by the Standards Council committees before being discussed by practitioners across Scotland. 

The Code contains 13 clauses which are underpinned by the following core position:

"Community Learning and Development (CLD) is a field of professional practice constituted by the adult education, community development and youth work professions.  While their practices and the constituencies they serve may differ, they have in common a commitment to their constituents as their primary clients, and to the power of informal education to transform situations, structures, communities and individuals.

Education is a prerequisite for democracy and citizenship.  CLD seeks to extend the reach of effective democracy, particularly by actively engaging those who are excluded from participation in key social processes that shape their lives, and to widen the scope of democracy to enable full participation in the common wealth." 

A report on the consultation process, prepared by Peter Taylor and Howard Sercombe, which describes and analyses the range of responses received is also available on the CLD Standards Council website.

The Standards Council would like to thank all the practitioners who participated in their consultation, online and in person; their investment means that this Code reflects the reality of CLD practice.

Read the Code of Ethics on the Standards Council's website.