The Goals of Personal Development - Essay Example

?Sheffield hallam Reflective Writing PASBD By: 29.04 [Type the of the document here. The is typically a short summary of the contents of the document. Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.] Personal development is one of the major goals of education and this module has particularly contributed towards this goal. I got different experiences throughout the module that has significantly improved my learning on various aspects. Nevertheless, there is a long way to go and I have much more to learn to become more refined and sophisticated. The foremost thing I learnt from this module was expressing ideas and working confidently in a team. As described by Belbin (1993, p. 152) “a team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members. Members of a team seek out certain roles and they perform most effectively in the ones that are most natural to them”. In the light of this description, I assumed the role of a “team worker”. This was because I thought of myself as a shy person as I do not find myself confident enough among those I do not know. It may be because of the lack of trust in my skills and abilities; I am full of brilliant ideas but I lack the confidence to express them and have lost many good opportunities in life due to my apparently shy nature. Carl Jung, the psychoanalyst, has termed people like me as “introverts” who spend most of their time alone or in the company of one or two friends (Osher 1998). I have only one close friend and I really feel comfortable in his company. Another thing I do not like about myself is the inability to make decisions. When it came to working in a team in the final year of PASBD, I gladly took the role of a “team worker”. A team worker, as described by Belbin, is a person who is a good listener, who cares for other team members and who works to resolve social problems but is not directly involved in problem solving and sometimes find it difficult to make decisions (Belbin’s Team Roles 2013) [Refer to Appendix-I for Belbin’s Team Roles]. But as I progressed with the module, I gained much confidence and I started taking active part in team work. In the first group meeting, I was overwhelmed by the confident faces around me. My only friend was not in the group and that really made me feel isolated. My confidence sank all time low and I did not participate in the discussions. In fact, I could not answer the questions directed towards me coherently. In my group, discussions were common and it was mandatory for every member to participate. Clashes of opinions were also frequent in the group and a final decision regarding tasks was reached after many loud arguments. I did not like both; however, both these factors proved to be a useful learning tool for me. The mandatory discussions meant that I had to voice my opinion while the clashes of opinions gave me confidence to speak out loud to make a point. While discussing group dynamics, Melucci (2004) shared the concept of conformity that fits well to my situation. Melucci (2004, p. 249) stated that “conformity is the maintenance or the alteration of one’s behavior to match the behavior and expectations of others”. I was actually trying to conform with the group expectations where every next member is eager to share and contribute. During this process of conforming to the group expectations, I found that my team members actually liked my ideas. This gave me confidence to speak in front of people. I realized that I had a lot of potential but was also terribly under confident. I started thinking why it was so. One thing that I had learnt from this experience (working in a group) was that I was not shy. This was because I was not tongue tied or my legs did not shake when I spoke in public. My lack of participation was because of my fear of being rejected and being ridiculed. As described by Freud, the human behavior cognition and experience are greatly influenced by the events in early childhood (Boundless, n.d.). When I was in grade three, I tried to use some big words to impress my teacher, I did not pronounce them correctly and she laughed at me. My classmates made fun of me for a whole week and later forgot all about it but I did not and could not do so. Then I realized that I was introvert and not shy as explained on webpage ‘thoughtful self-improvement’ (2012) that “introversion is not shyness”; I found the key that I need to improve on this aspect to move further on the path of learning and sharing. The PASBD was a great learning experience as it brought about major positive changes in my life. I realized that my personality was changing and by the time we had accomplished the Worden task, I could relate the changes in my personality with “Tuckman’s Teamwork Theory”. Tuckman (1965) proposed four stages of group development as forming, storming, norming and performing [See Appendix – II for Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development]. For me, the initial “forming” stage was a bit confusing as my role and responsibilities were not clear. Also I felt uncomfortable in the group as I was used to working alone. In a new environment, I generally keep quiet and observe; my team members did not like this trait and made their disapproval obvious with their looks and comments. The “storming” stage saw loud arguments and as we tried to act as a group to accomplish the National Trust task. In this task, my team mates got to know that I could actually contribute positively. My role as a trouble shooter was strong at this stage as I resolved the issues between my team mates at many occasions. I prepared presentation slides for the task which were presented by the team leader. The presentation was a bit stilted and I was the one to blame for that as I failed to properly brief it to the presenter. At this time, it occurred to me that although my presentation skills were strong, these would not take me very far and I decided to actively participate in the group activities. The “norming” stage saw us come together as a team and my opinion was given importance. I also took minor decisions regarding the tasks. In the “performing stage” my confidence level was quite high and I actually feel good about taking part in different group and individual activities. My presentations improved with the tasks, my confidence level increased with time, and my communication skills improved as I interact more and more with the group. The experience at PASBD has brought changes in many aspects of my personality. I was transformed from a loner to a team player. I learnt to communicate with different people; for instance, there were some short-tempered people in my team and they did not like it when other group members do not agree with their ideas and methods. Communicating with them and convincing them was a daunting task and I think I did it well due to my improved communication skills as also highlighted by Lloyd et al (2009) that effective communication helps deal with interpersonal conflicts constructively. I learnt to express myself well and make myself understood. A great contribution in improvement of my communication skills was the high number of presentations I had to do in the final year of this module. Initial presentations highlighted my weak areas and I found where I can improve. I can feel the improvement and most of the credit for it goes to the pressure of doing so many presentations as I urge to perform even better in every next presentation getting feedback from the past one. I also developed a strong reading habit as I was responsible for collecting the material for presentations. I already was a good observer and I like to observe things in a new environment; accompanied with reading habits it made me a good learner as stated by Sujit (2010, p. 1) “good learners are always good observers. Good readers are in fact better learners”.  This reading habit proved to be helpful in academics and accompanied with good observation it helped improved my grades as well. I did extensive studies to prepare slides; however, at one point I became so obsessive with preparing the slides that I started to believe that nobody could do it better than me. At this point, I realized that I had to learn to trust others and believe in their abilities. I had to use my locus of control to manage the situation. Locus of control (Rotter, 1966) provides a platform to a person to assess the power he/she has over the events in the person’s life. The locus of control can be internal or external; internal LOC suggests that the person is not easily influenced by others whereas an external LOC means that a person believes that external circumstances and factors like luck and fate affect his/her life (See appendix – III for explanation of the concept of locus of control). In the later tasks, we collected the materials and made presentations together and I learnt that another person’s viewpoint give new angles to explore and the concepts become clearer and lots of unanswered questions are answered if you explain them to another person. The best thing I learned from this module (PASBD) was time management. My team leader gave a deadline to prepare the presentation for the task and then we rehearsed it. The more we discussed and rehearsed, the better our presentations got. In order to manage time effectively, I made a time table and followed it. I learnt that time management actually reduces stress levels (Emmett 2009) and improves self-esteem (Frings 2004) which in turn increases productivity. I also developed leadership skills. I was so overwhelmed by the discussions on utilizing our precious time effectively that I used to spend the spare time in a part time job which I joined last summer as a football coach for kids. This has given me added chance to interact and learn from my own as well as other’s experiences. This has provided me with a spirit to lead and work as a team. I can relate my experience with Dreyfus model of skill acquisition where, initially, I was a novice who do not use discretionary judgment; however, later on I crossed the stage of advanced beginner where I have limited awareness of priorities and situations and now I can well fit myself to ‘competent stage’ as now I can relate my plans to my aims and goals for life. Yet there are stages to cross and I am confident towards achieving them (See appendix – IV for Dreyfus model of skill acquisition). Another outcome of the PASBD module was that it made me realize the effectiveness of teamwork. As stated by Katzenbach and Douglas (1992), working in teams enhances performance in every kind of organizations. My learning experience can be classified according to Kolb’s learning cycle. According to Kolb (1984), learning is a process during which a learner acquires abstract concepts which can be flexibly applied in different situations. In Kolb’s (1984, p. 38) words “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”. Kolb has defined four stages of learning i) concrete experience ii) reflective observation iii) abstract conceptualization and iv) active experimentation (see appendix – V for Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle). Kolb (1984) believes a learner can begin at any stage but then has to go through the complete cycle. At this stage, I can easily relate to the stages of concrete experience and reflective observation. i) Concrete Experience: At this stage a new experience of situation is encountered. In my case, being a part of a team was a concrete experience for me. This is because before the module PASBD, I had never worked in teams. In fact I avoided the company of strangers and preferred working alone. Working in a team was an altogether new experience for me. ii) Reflective Observation: At this stage the learner looks back at the experience. My experience was positive and brought about many changes in my personality and abilities. Concluding, I am not fearful to admit that there is still a long way to go. Learning is a life-long process and I must relate it to the philosophy of Confucianism where the belief lies in the fact that there is a continuous improvement and humans are teachable and perfectible. They continuously travel on a path of self-cultivation whereby they learn and improve throughout their lives (Kee 2007). I know this is how I can contribute to my life and to the lives of others i.e. by continuous learning and improvement. References Belbin, R M 1993, Team Roles at Work, 3rd edn., UK: Butterworth-Heinemann Limited. Belbin’s Team Roles 2013, Changing Minds, available from: http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/belbin.htm [accessed: 20 April 2013] Boundless, n.d., Freud, Boundless, available from: https://www.boundless.com/sociology/understanding-socialization/theories-socialization/freud/ [accessed: 20 April 2013] Emmett, R 2009, Manage Your Time to Reduce Your Stress: A Handbook for the Overworked, Overscheduled, and Overwhelmed, USA: Bloomsbury Publishing USA. Frings, C S 2004, The Hitchhiker's Guide To Effective Time Management, 2nd edn., USA: Amer. Assoc. for Clinical Chemistry. Katzenbach, J R & Smith, D K 1992, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, UK: Harvard Business School Press. Kee, Y 2007, Adult Learning from a Confucian Way of Thinking, in Merriam, S B (ed.), Non-Western Perspectives in Learning and Knowing, pp. 153-172, Malabar, Fla.: Krieger. Kolb, D A 1984, Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development, New York: Prentice-Hall. Lloyd, M A, Dunn, D S & Hammer, E Y 2009, Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century, 9th edn., USA: Cengage Learning. Melucci, N J 2004, Psychology: The Easy Way, USA: Barron's Educational Series. Osher, J W 1998, Learning for the 21st Century /: A Handbook for College Student Success and Career Planning, 5th edn., USA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. Rotter, J B 1966, Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement, Psychological Monographs 80 (1), Whole No. 609. Sujit, K 2010, Reading Comprehension For The CAT, India: Pearson Education India. Thoughtful Self Improvement 2012, Definition of Introvert, available from: http://www.thoughtful-self-improvement.com/Definition-of-Introvert.html#sthash.0qji8TGJ.dpbs [accessed: 20 April 2013] Tuckman, B 1965, Developmental sequence of small groups, Psychological Bulletin 63 (6), pp. 384-399. Appendix – I Belbin’s Team Roles Source: Belbin’s Team Roles 2013, Changing Minds, available from: http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/belbin.htm [accessed: 20 April 2013] Appendix – II Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development Source: Johnson, J 2009, Health Organizations: Theory, Behavior, and Development, USA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, p. 318. Appendix – III Locus of control Source: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_90.htm# Appendix – IV Dreyfus model of skill acquisition Source: Eraut, M 1994, Developing professional knowledge and competence, New York: Routledge, p. 124. Appendix – V Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle Source: Kolb (1985, p. 42) cited in Avis, J, Fischer, R & Thompson, R 2009, Teaching in Lifelong Learning, New York: McGraw-Hill International, p. 93 Read More