The Professional Development and Support Unit (PDSU) serves as a vehicle for moving research to practice and back, to have practice inform our research. It is tasked with the provision of quality professional development and supporting services to practitioners, agencies, systems and communities on all areas to help children and families thrive. Through these human services, the Unit also collects quantitative and qualitative evidence to support the Centre’s research.

Typical knowledge transfer activities around child development and family dynamics include:

• Consultancy and training services for schools, agencies, academics and practitioners to implement advanced practices, innovative initiatives, informed decisions and policies. Formats include partnership or commissioned projects, strategic consultancy and advisory, professional development programmes, community of practice, etc.
• Conferences, seminars, forums and workshops to disseminate research knowledge to the public, and academic and practitioners both locally and internationally.
• Organizational/School-based Quality Improvement Scheme (SBQIS) to empower organizations and schools in policy making, design and implementation of context-sensitive strategies, and effective deployment of resources to support positive development of children and families.