The NAFD is collaborating with the developers of a revolutionary learning platform to create the NAFD Learning Hub – an exciting and bold Continuing Professional Development (CPD) offer for members.
Adaptable to UK working practices and regulations, the NAFD Learning Hub uses virtual reality and 3D models to create highly engaging visual learning scenarios, supported by online assessment, remote invigilation and gap training. The use of virtual reality to aid training and development will be the first of its kind in the UK funeral sector.
For the pilot, a series of 50 courses will be created and grouped into key current industry themes. The feedback from this trial will enable the NAFD to assess if it will provide the right platform for CPD for the entire membership, before the NAFD invests in tailoring the entire system to UK funeral service and practice. The aim is also for the Funeral Learning Hub to provide online CPD companion learning for an expanded NAFD Manual of Funeral Directing – and it will also complement other NAFD qualifications and courses too.
Karen Van-Richardson, Education Development Manager, said: “Many NAFD members invest in their own development and that of their teams already, but this is about taking professional development to the next level in line with changing stakeholder expectations of the sector and the desire of NAFD members to stand head and shoulders above other funeral firms.”
Chair of the Board of Education, Past President Alison Crake, added: “The Funeral Learning Hub is a very exciting opportunity for NAFD members. It will provide straightforward access to a comprehensive and tailored range of courses that are convenient to access, no matter how you and your teams work.
“As the independent regulation of standards is becoming inevitable in the funeral sector, the time is right for the NAFD to add CPD to its suite of qualifications and training, to provide career-long learning opportunities – and help members to demonstrate their up-to-date knowledge of regulations and standards, together with their capability and experience in caring for bereaved and deceased people.”
Read more in January’s edition of Funeral Director Monthly, the membership magazine of the National Association of Funeral Directors. Subscribe today by emailing [email protected].