Towards a manifesto for software process education, training and professionalism

In June 2015 a group of experts in Software Process Improvement (SPI) and Education from all over the world gathered at the 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism held in connection with 15th International Conference Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination. Discussions with key players in the relevant professional and personal certification fields, as well as experienced educators led to a consensus that it is time for the industry to rise to the new challenges and set out in a manifesto a common vision for educators and trainers together with a set of recommendations to address the challenges faced. At the workshop 14 “experts” from education and industry presented and discussed their “wisdom and experience” of the challenges faced for software process education, training and professionalism, especially with the background of the new modes of learning and teaching in higher education. Based on the presentations, 32 workshop participants brainstormed core values and principles specifically addressing the needs of software process education, training and professionalism. Via affinity analysis and group thinking exercises we identified an initial manifesto, consisting of 10 values and 4 principles. It is expected that this draft manifest will give expression to state-of-the-art knowledge on software process education, training and professionalism. It is based on hundreds of person-years of practice and experience from educators and industry professionals globally. Further work is currently being undertaken to extend and validate this draft manifesto with a view to publishing in its entirety by 2016.