Welcome to the new Allied Health Professionals Educator Career Framework, commissioned by Health Education England, now NHS England. Designed for all AHPs at all career stages, this framework aims to support a sustainable and high-quality educator workforce both in practice and in academic settings.
Professor Alison Chambers, author of the AHP Educator Career Framework, introduces this valuable work.
The outcome-based framework describes the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to be an effective teacher, learning facilitator and role model in AHP education across all career stages and should be seen as an important first step in establishing a national standard for the AHP education workforce.
It looks at a range of AHP educator roles with their associated capabilities and proposed education, training, and academic standards through six domains. These domains consist of the capabilities and competencies required for advancing educator careers for every AHP at every career stage. 
Domain 1: Responsibility and Accountability
Responsibility and Accountability – to ensure safe and effective education
All members of the AHP community need to be aware of the competencies required for their role as an educator. They should ensure that they engage with any opportunities to achieve these competencies, They should reflect on their capabilities and identify areas for future development.
Domain 2: Diverse and Inclusive leadership
Diverse and Inclusive leadership – to overcome barriers and provide solutions for the provision of inclusive education.
Inclusive education leadership that respects the diversity of learners is at the core of educator practice. A commitment to developing equitable learning environments and addressing inequalities is fundamental to facilitate and deliver education at all levels. Allyship, participation and antidiscrimination practice are central to leadership practice.
Domain 3: Community and Co-production
Community and Co-production – empowerment of all voices to be change makers and agents & to ensure that actions are non-discriminatory.
Co-creating learning opportunities and ensuring that the voices of learners and the end users of any service are empowered and heard enables educators to design, deliver and shape inclusive education provision. AHP educators in all learning environments should collaborate to evaluate and co-produce course design and content for both and practice-based learning and further education/ university-based. Innovation should be encouraged. New education developments should be critically evaluated for effectiveness, safety, and sustainability.
Domain 4: Formal Knowledge and Skills
Formal Knowledge and Skills – to deliver evidence based/sector informed education.
Educators develop knowledge and skills during their practice through both formal and informal opportunities. They complete appropriate education and training and where appropriate accreditation and/or formal qualifications to enable them to fulfil an educator role and regularly engage with continuing professional development in relation to their educator responsibilities to maintain and build on competencies.
Domain 5: Digital and Sustainability
Digital and Sustainability – to ensure that education provision is forward facing with a focus on innovation and the environment.
Digital technology is essential to create educational opportunities for a diverse AHP workforce. The educator workforce needs to embed future technologies whilst also considering environmental sustainability. AHP educators should maintain and develop their digital skills (managing information, sharing data, using digital skills in delivery of care) They should welcome innovation and critically evaluate new developments in clinical or educational practice prior to wider adoption into practice.
Domain 6: Research, Innovation & Quality Improvement
Research, Innovation & Quality Improvement – to ensure education provision is evidence based and impactful.
Educational innovation is vital to ensure that learners are equipped to work within the workforce of the future, and research and quality improvement processes are fundamental. Strengthening the evidence base to inform education practice, enhance learner support, ensuring education programme content aligns with advances and innovations, allows us to drive education quality and meet the needs of future students, staff, and service users. Educators should critically evaluate their own educational practice and where appropriate practice. Ensuring that new developments within their scope of practice as educators, for inclusion in the educational curricula.
The full report contains a review of the existing career and education frameworks for all Allied Health Professions and a targeted literature review of key publications.
