AIEB as the body for the professional endorsement of community work education and training programmes across the island of Ireland, has developed an endorsement framework and process for community work education which is inclusive and sets out to ensure the principles for quality community work as laid out in the All Ireland Standards for Community Work.
The endorsement process is a dialogical and developmental discussion with the aim of enhancing the quality overall of community work/community development education and training. The process ensures that providers adhere to a set of guidelines for delivery and that the programme content provides opportunities for participants to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills, and qualities to become competent community development practitioners.
Endorsement may be described as a system for recognising programmes that leads to professional qualification awards. The endorsement process sets and assesses professional standards in relation to the content and quality of a community work programme in preparing students to work effectively as professional community workers in a range of contexts.
In order for endorsement processes to operate effectively and credibly for professional education, the standards must be closely related to agreed occupational standards of professional practice. Endorsement is concerned with setting and monitoring criteria in relation to the following among others:
- Content of education and training
- Process of education and training
- Selection and assessment of participants and contributors
- Achievement of professional standards of practice
View information on the benefits of endorsement and applying for endorsement, or contact enquiries@aieb.ie for further details.
