15
th
International Congress on Archives
Hoy
www.wien2004.ica.org
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unequivocal as to the need for learners to have relationships with people, for reflection, feedback and
support.
This contact does not have to be face-to-face, but it has to be reflective, engaging and
sustainable over time and place. Mentoring relationships are also considered essential, especially for
providing dialogue between lone professionals and others.
An example of a distance-based course that emphasised learner support was an in-house professional
development program, Records Management and Archives Skills Training Program, implemented by
the National Archives of Australia in 1998. This course was conducted by Monash University for over
100 Archives staff in seven offices. It was dynamic in its design, combining online debates, face-to-
face discussion, group and individual work, to engage participants and encourage reflection using the
new `learn how to learn' principles. The curriculum was challenging and gave the National Archives of
Australia the confidence to change direction, culminating in, amongst other achievements, the ability to
produce an integrated set of new policies and procedures for recordkeeping, launched through the e-
permanence website.
Model for learning outcomes and strategies
There is no single option or pathway for professional development, so it is important to plan for
different, but workable options that can be adapted as the environment and expectations change.
following diagrams and explanation seeks to show how we can build different learning scenarios.
Figure 1 below, shows a model with two axes as the key variables in designing professional
development.
1.
Learning outcomes from demonstrated performance or competence for current needs through
to adaptive skills and knowledge or capabilities for future challenges.
2.
Learning processes from on-the-job through to formal or accredited study leading to
individual qualifications.
71
Knowles, p. 57; G Salmon, Emoderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online, Kogan Page, London,
2000; O Simpson, Supporting Students in Open and Distance Learning, Kogan Page, London, 2000 ; D Rowntree,
Preparing Materials for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning, Kogan Page, London, 1994.
72
Anderson & Cuddihly, p. 7; ARES Forum, p. 6.
73
National Archives of Australia, Annual Report 199899, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 1999, p. 13;
National Archives of Australia (NAA), `e-permanence', 2004, NAA website:
http://www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/
(accessed 1 June 2004).
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Slaughter, p. 262.
