Fostering transformative professional development: the process of a training perspectives questionnaire development

This work-in progress research design focuses on the development process of a Training Perspectives Questionnaire to investigate how trainers and consultants conceive training and to promote awareness about themselves as trainers. The study was developed within the project "Soft Skills: Aware, Competent and Competitive", led by an Italian training centre in cooperation with the University of Padova. Twenty-four professionals were involved in a 24-hour training program that proposed methods and techniques inspired by experiential learning and outdoor training to promote their professional development. This research connects the literature on and practice of professional development in the field of training and consultancy with Transformative Learning theory. A mixed method approach including a sequential exploratory strategy (QUAL-quant) was used to develop the instrument. The themes from the interviews have been integrated with dimensions identified through the literature review process and are presented here.