Explainer: Unifrog’s Continuing Professional Development learning packages for counselors and teachers
What are Unifrog’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) packages for counselors and teachers?
These are comprehensive packages of courses for counselors and teachers that support professional development in college counseling, careers guidance, and SEL/PSHE. The CPD courses are hosted in a new ‘Teacher CPD’ tool on Unifrog.
The packages are designed to supercharge professional practice at your school.
What is available for counselors and teachers at my school now?
At the moment there are two packages that your school can subscribe to: ‘International counseling courses’ and ‘SEL and PSHE’:
THE INTERNATIONAL COUNSELING COURSES PACKAGE
Check out the FAQs for the International Counseling Courses package here.
This package is made up of:
- The course ‘College counseling basics’ in the Careers guidance and Counseling theme
- All the courses in the International pathways theme:
- Supporting students applying to the US
- Supporting students applying to the UK
- Supporting students applying to Canada
- Supporting students applying to Europe
- Supporting students applying to Australia and New Zealand
THE SEL AND PSHE PACKAGE
Check out the FAQs for the SEL and PSHE package here.
This package is made up of two elements:
- Two SEL and PSHE teacher CPD courses:
- Delivering SEL in international schools
- Leading SEL in international schools
- The SEL and PSHE lesson pack:
80+ off-the-shelf lessons to teach students SEL and PSHE. These lessons are available in the Resources library, and you get access to them along with the two SEL and PSHE CPD courses for teachers.
How much do the CPD packages cost?
The limited-time launch price for each of the two packages is £350 ex.VAT per year.
The licence includes access for every teacher in your school, and they can take each course as many times as they’d like.
If you’d like to purchase a package, get in touch with The Unifrog team on info@unifrog.org.
What are the courses in the packages like?
Each teacher course is three to six sessions long, and takes between an hour and a half to six hours to complete.
The courses are fully online and self-paced. Counselors and teachers could do them all in one go, during training days, or across several weeks.
The course sessions are made up of a mixture of videos, text, reflective tasks, practice activities, and scenario-based exercises.
If you're already a Unifrog partner, read more about Unifrog’s teacher CPD courses:
What do counselors and teachers who take the CPD courses get from them?
The teacher CPD courses are designed to supercharge your professional practice.
They help counselors, teachers, and other school staff feel more confident in supporting students applying to destinations around the world, and in delivering SEL and PSHE.
The courses help staff harness career development and counseling theory, including approaches like Egan’s Skilled Helper Model, Rogers’ person-centred counseling, the Law and Watts DOTS model, the Karpman Drama Triangle, and reflective practice models developed by Schön, Gibbs, and Driscoll.
The courses are also very practical. They feature interviews with admissions officers at top universities, and videos of experienced counselors giving tips on teaching sensitive SEL and PSHE topics.
The courses are accredited by an independent assessor, and can count towards hours or points for continuing professional development.
Who are the courses in the packages for?
The CPD courses are for:
- Counselors, guidance teams, or teachers responsible for whole-school careers guidance
- Teaching staff responsible for your school’s SEL/PSHE programme
- Counselors who’d like a better understanding of applications to a particular study destination
- Any member of staff who’s interested in becoming a counselor in the future. If you don’t have a dedicated counselor or counseling team, this is a great way to get someone, like an IBDP coordinator, comfortable with this extra responsibility.
Are the courses in the packages accredited?
All the courses in the paid for packages are CPD certified. This means:
- They’ve been independently reviewed against continuing professional development standards by an external assessor from the CPD Certification Service.
- Counselors and teachers who complete a course receive a certificate with the CPD Certification Service’s logo on it:
Who created the courses?
The following people have been involved in creating our high-quality courses:
- Our level 7 registered career development professional (RCDP) with a master’s degree in careers guidance;
- Our team of course writers, made up of former teachers with over 50 years’ teaching experience between them;
- Our partner universities who have provided expert information on current university systems across the world;
- The CPD Certification Service who reviewed the courses against their own rigorous criteria in order to certify them.
Other FAQs about the CPD packages
Rather than subscribing to a whole CPD package, can I just buy access to some of the courses within them?
No, we only sell the paid for courses within complete packages.
How long does a licence for a package last?
A licence for each CPD package lasts for one year. Each year we’ll review our courses to update them to reflect changes in admissions systems, counseling practice, and partnerships.
How do I add a CPD package to my school’s subscription?
Get in touch with The Unifrog team on info@unifrog.org for more information or to purchase the CPD packages.
How do I know if my school has subscribed to a CPD package?
You can see if you have access to the course themes that come as part of the paid-for CPD packages:
Once my school subscribes, how do counselors and teachers access the courses in the packages?
Once your school purchases a CPD package, staff can take the courses that come with each package in the Teacher CPD courses tool, accessible via their teacher homepage:
Do the courses provide professional accreditation for counselors and careers advisers?
The courses are certified as professional development, but they are not counselor professional accreditation programmes. They provide additional support in specific areas of counseling and careers advice.
Do the courses in the packages cover how to use Unifrog?
The courses in these packages are not specifically about using Unifrog, but they bring in specific tools where relevant, for example the European shortlisting tool in the ‘Pathways: international’ course on supporting students' applications to Europe.
On the Teacher CPD tool there are courses specifically on how to use Unifrog, in the ‘How to use Unifrog’ theme. The courses in this theme are included for free in your normal Unifrog subscription.
Are there any free CPD courses for teachers on Unifrog?
On the Teacher CPD courses tool, the courses within the theme ‘How to use Unifrog’ are included for free in your normal Unifrog subscription.
The other courses in the Teacher CPD tool come as part of paid for CPD packages that are additional to your normal Unifrog subscription.
Can non-counselors complete the courses in the CPD packages?
Absolutely! Your licence is for all staff. If you don’t have a dedicated counselor or counseling team, another member of staff can use these courses to support your students. They’re also useful for staff who aren’t counselors but are interested in becoming one.