Design of a Training Perspectives Questionnaire to encourage Transformative Professional Development

The paper presents a work-in-progress research design focused on a professional development program addressed to technical trainers and consultants to improve their generic skills and enhance awareness about their consulting styles and approaches. The study was developed within the context of the "Soft Skills: Aware, Competent and Competitive" project, led by an Italian training centre in cooperation with the University of Padova and financed by regional funds. 24 professionals were involved in a 24-hour training program that proposed methods and techniques inspired by experiential learning and outdoor training. The purpose of this paper is to present the development process of a Training Perspectives Questionnaire to explore how trainers and consultants conceive training. A mixed method approach and an exploratory sequential design (QUAL-quant) were adopted. The process integrated the themes revealed by the interviews of a convenience sample of 10 trainers with the dimensions identified through the literature review. The identified areas and the next steps of the development process of a Training Perspectives Questionnaire are presented.