Fortnight Focus: Professional Development and the Precarious Practitioner: A Critical Friendship Approach

24.08.2026

This week, following on from the presentation at the St Andrews conference, we’d like to recommend this insightful new BALEAP article about professional development for freelance EAP practitioners working on pre-sessional courses.

Alongside formal CPD opportunities (such as inductions, observations and in-house CPD sessions) the article argues for more peer-led forms of professional learning for tutors on fixed-term summer contracts so that individual long-term scholarship is also valued.  The concept of critical friendship is suggested as one way for pre-sessional colleagues to support, challenge, and learn from one another through honest dialogue and shared reflection, for example, by providing feedback on conference proposals and presentations.  Using evidence from recorded conversations and written reflections, the authors examine how their own critical friendship evolved and how it contributed to their professional development.

The article also suggests that this peer-to-peer professional support is only possible with a proactive leadership approach. Therefore, through a combined effort from individuals and the institution, a more inclusive and collaborative model of professional development can emerge for those working in precarious EAP contexts.

Access the paper here:  Professional Development and the Precarious Practitioner: A Critical Friendship Approach

What are your own experiences of a critical friendship approach?  Which of the ideas in the article resonate with your own experience of CPD? 

We'd love to know your thoughts - pop over to LinkedIn to start a conversation with us!

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