Professional Exam

About the Professional Exam
 
The Professional Exam is the final step to becoming an RPP, a Full Member of OPPI. As of September 2016, it is a multiple choice exam administered on behalf of OPPI by the Professional Standards Board (PSB). Register to take the Professional Exam here.
 
The exam comprises three sections: public interest, professional responsibility, and ethics. 
 
In preparation for the exam, Candidate (Provisional) Members may wish to reflect on professional and ethical issues encountered in their own practical work experience. They could draw on discussions they have had (and may continue to have) with their Sponsors and refer to the PSB website for the Professional Exam FAQ. Please note that for the purposes of the exam, you will be referring to the CIP Code of Professional Practice and Statement of Values, available at Codes of Professional Practice and Statement of Values.
 

Reading List

Alexander, E. Rationality Revisited: Planning Paradigms in a Post-Modernist Perspective, Journal Of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 19, 243-256
 
Barrett, Carol D., Everyday Ethics for Practicing Planners, Chicago: APA Planners Press, 2002
 
Beatley, Timothy, Ethical Land Use: Principles of Policy and Planning, 1994, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
 
Bolan, Richard, “The Structure of Ethical Choice in Planning Practice,” Journal of Planning Education and Research, 3, 23-24, 1983
 
Brooks, Michael P., Planning Theory for Practitioners, Chicago: APA Planners Press, 2002
 
Brown, Marvin, The Ethical Process, 1999, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
 
Callahan, J. C. 1988. Ethical Issues in Professional Life.  New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 26-43
 
Campbell, H. and R. Marshall. Ethical Frameworks and Planning Theory. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 23, Issue 3, pp. 464-478
 
Campbell, H. and R. Marshall. Acting on Principle: Dilemmas in Planning. Planning, Practice and Research, Vol. 13, Issue 2, pp 117-128
 
Campbell, H. and R. Marshall, Utilitarianism’s Bad Breath? A Re-Evaluation of the Public Interest Justification for Planning. Planning Theory, Vol. 5 (1) 163-187
 
Campbell, H.  2012. Planning Ethics and Rediscovering the Idea of Planning, Planning Theory, 11(4), 379- 399
 
Curtler, H. 2004. Ethical Argument: Critical Thinking in Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press
 
Dimock, S. & C. Tucker, 2004. Applied Ethics: Reflective Moral Reasoning, Toronto: Thomson Canada
 
Fabbro, S. The Design of a Plural Ethical Approach to Spatial Planning: A Tentative Proposal from an Italian Point of View
 
Geddes, Robert (ed.), Cities in Our Future, 1997, Washington, D.C.: Island Press, Preface, Introduction pp 1-11, Justice and the City pp 13-31
 
Grant, J. Rethinking the Public Interest as a Planning Concept, Plan Canada, Summer 2005, 48-50
 
Hendler, Sue, “Ethics in Planning: the Views of Students and Practioners,” Journal of Planning Education and Research, 10(2), 99-105, 1991
 
Hendler, S. 1994. Feminist Planning Ethics, Journal of Planning Literature. Vol. 9, No. 2. pp. 115-127
 
Lloyd, G. Planning and the Public Interest in the Modern World, Sir Patrick Geddes Commemorative Lecture, Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland, June 2006
 
McKay, S. 2010. Efficacy and Ethics: An Investigation into the Role of Ethics, Legitimacy and Power in Planning. The Town Planning Review, 81(4), 425-444
 
Ploger, John. Ethics in Norwegian Planning: Legitimacy, Ambivalence, Rhetoric. Planning, Practice and Research, Vol. 19, Issue 1, pp 49-66

Talen, E. and C. Ellis. Beyond Relativism: Reclaiming the Search for Good City Form, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 22, 36-49

Udy, John, “Why plan? Planning and the Eternal Values”, Plan Canada, Vol. 20, pp.176-183

Vaughan, L. & C. MacDonald, 2008. The Power of Critical Thinking, Toronto: Oxford University Press, Canadian Edition
 
Vigar, G. 2012. Planning and Professionalism: Knowledge, Judgement and Expertise in English Planning. Planning Theory, 11(4), 361-378 Watson, Vanessa. Deep Difference: Diversity, Planning and Ethics, Planning Theory, Vol. 5 (1), 31-50