Initial Self-Assessment and Reflection, Ethics, Values, Beliefs, and Professionalism - Admission/Application Essay Example

Personal Development Plan Table of Contents 0. Initial Self-Assessment and Reflection 3 2.0. Goals 5 3.0. Ethics, Values, Beliefs and Professionalism 7 4.0. Progress Review 9 5.0. Plan of Action 11 6.0. Reflective Summary 12 References 14 Appendix 17 1.0. Initial Self-Assessment and Reflection Continuous development in professional domain is one of the most significant aspects associated with the approach of any individual when he/she intends to attain maximum success in life. Continuous development might be in the form of enhancing skills, abilities and competencies by way of gaining both practical and theoretical knowledge, associated with an individual’s professional interest (LeFever, 2011; British Council, n.d.). My professional interest is in the area of coaching where I intend to gain maximum expertise through acquiring worthy practical and theoretical knowledge. A coach is a person who guides others towards a set positive direction in order to attain the determined feat or accomplish a particular goal in any particular subject area (Jones & et. al., 2008). My personality and my behavioural elements might act as major influencing factors in my approach towards gaining proper knowledge and insights with regard to all the implications associated with coaching. My behavioural skills of developing proper interpersonal skills with others and my INFP personality indicator will assist me towards accomplishing my personal development goals (Myers, 2000). During my involvement in the learning, coaching and development unit (LC&D Unit), I focused towards enhancing my interpersonal communication skills and abilities, which is one of the basic and foremost requirements in the coaching or mentoring profession (Kalbfleisch, 2002). However, I would like to mention that my skills of interpersonal communication were quite good when I joined the LC&D unit. As I am a kind of individual who like to interact with people of different natures and personality traits including my INFP personality indicator as per Isabel Briggs Myers’ indicators tests (Refer appendix), I believe that has played a major role in my communication skills enhancements. I was also attracted towards communicating with different kinds of people in order to enhance my knowledge and skills regarding various aspects. This particular skill of mine will be quite helpful in the field of coaching or mentoring where I would need to interact with people from diverse range of cultures and backgrounds. Despite of the fact that I have a good interpersonal skill with regard to communication, the scope of enhancing the same to the next level always exists. In this regard, my style or approach towards learning will be crucial to depict. I am a person who carries the attributes of an Activist learner. Activism can be stated as an individual learning approach, where practical means of learning such as barnstorming, problem solving and group discussion are mainly preferred. I learn well through practical conduct of the activities rather than involving in gaining theoretical understanding (Huang & Busby, 2007). Possessing activist behaviour towards learning has both positive and negative outcomes. For instance, the activist learning behaviour allows me to be enthusiastic towards the work I conduct or any other responsibilities I am involved with. On the other hand, the activist behaviour also encourages me to take more risks while fulfilling the goals of my learning, which might again act negatively in certain scenario as I often had to witness stress owing to my this particular learning trait. Notably, there are various skills and competencies required towards maximum professional and personal development of an individual. Since I am a person who has a personality indicator of INFP, I have certain strict personal values, which I need to consider while planning for my personal development (Myers, 2000). Contextually, I would like to enhance my leadership skills in the future context, as it is quite a vital competency required in the domain of coaching or mentoring. My leadership traits are largely affected from my INFP personality features. This is because of the aspect that I am quite reserved in nature and consequently, I can be less strict and stern towards guiding others through proper leadership, which is again regarded as a major setback towards ensuring proper leadership (Myers, 2000). However, the skills of leadership can be accumulated through my involvement in taking up leadership initiatives and responsibilities. In this regard, my quality of creativity as an INFP personality holder will be crucial. In my course of association with the LC&D Unit, I will intend to enhance this particular trait of my personality. 2.0. Goals As mentioned in the above section, along with my learning experiences through involvement in LC&D Unit, I have set certain goals for myself accomplishment of which will ensure my personal and professional development to the maximum level. The three goals that I have determined for myself include presentation skills for the subject area of employability, focusing and listening when performing in the domain of coaching and note taking in the subject area of learning management. I believe that enhancing this aspect within my personality will surely work positively towards my development. As depicted in the area of employability, I will like to enhance my skills of presentation, which is again deemed to be vital. Employability presentations skills will ensure that I would be able to secure my work in my professional workplace (Kahrs, 2000). Presenting the information clearly as well as effectively is among the major skills that individuals need to possess in the workplace to attain success. In order to attain this particular feat, I have adopted certain measures, which further acts as evidences of my actions towards attaining the goals. The first evidence towards attaining this goal of enhancing presentation skills includes identifying my strengths and working more on those and focusing on quality of presenting rather than solely emphasising the aspects of quantity. Throughout the year, I intend to develop my presentation skills by way of identifying my basic skills of presenting and working towards my improvement. This will allow me to concentrate on one particular aspect of ensuring proper presentation and develop myself in one particular regard. For instance, I am good at participating in formal communication with others and likewise, I stress more on conveying information in a formal manner. This enhances my chances of gaining maximum success. The second evidence of my actions aimed at attaining the above mentioned goals is that I will also focus on enhancing the quality of my presentation skills and not the quantity itself, which is again an important component for improvement in terms of employability. Corresponding to the domain of employability, I would also like to improve myself in the area of learning management. As mentioned above, I follow an activist style of learning with patience, while involving in lecture of different subjects in the LC&D unit. An evidence of my action in attaining the goal to improve myself in the area of learning management is that I will be more attentive in the classroom while the teaching process is being conducted. I will note down the important and key factors that taught during the course, which was missing in my learning approach (Kahrs, 2000). Evidence towards attaining the goal of proper learning management in attaining the desired skills will also include my association with direct interaction with the tutors so that I can be able to gain an in-depth understanding about the course materials. This might also work towards my personal development altogether. I will also need certain developments in the area of coaching or mentoring, where my professional interest lies. In this regard, my goals will be to ensure improvements in the area of assuring focus and active listening while being in the class. I easily get distracted from the activities of others in the class, which affects my learning process in the subject area of mentoring. An evidence of my approach towards enhancing my listening and focusing skills is that I will engage myself with activities that promote interpersonal communication development, enhancing patience level in my behaviour where I would be able to gain betterment in managing my skills of focusing on the work I am allotted with. In the future context, I will ensure that the set goals of mine is accomplished in due course of time through continuous learning process, which will further impact my employability and personal life in a favourable manner altogether. 3.0. Ethics, Values, Beliefs and Professionalism Ethics, values, beliefs along with professionalism are some of the important terms that is directly and inherently associated with coaching or mentoring activities. The importance of this aspect in coaching was thoroughly described within the course of my involvement in LC&D unit. Mentoring has become one of the integral parts of modern day workplaces and has a key role to play in organizational operations. Contextually, mentors need to ensure the compliance of ethical codes while conducting their activities. Some of the aspects of ethicality in mentoring include promoting mutual trusts and interests, ensuring confidentiality, avoiding discrimination and purposeful decision making among others (The Institute for Clinical Research Education, n.d.). In this regard, I will like to mention that I, as a person, show maximum respect towards the aspect of confidentially and will continue to behave the same way in my professional domain to gain greater trust. I also believe in mutual trust and respect while interacting with others. This might help me positively in assuring the compliance of ethics in mentoring profession. However, I will need to develop myself in the area of ensuring proper and purposeful decision-making. Since, I lack experience in terms of practical coaching or mentoring, the aspect of proper decision-making is yet to be explored. Again, it is significant to note that a mentor is a person who has the responsibility of guiding others towards a positive direction. Hence, his/her value is quite high in framing the career of an individual. In this context, I would like to mention that I am a kind of a person who is quite concerned and particular about what I covey to others or where I direct them, as I know the importance of proper guidance for an individual. The knowledge that I have gathered from being associated with the courses in LC&D unit taught me about how I should ensure the deliverance of proper assistance to others through mentoring, to enable them to achieve their goals and targets successfully. Professionalism is another important component that is integrally associated with mentoring. As depicted above, mentoring is not just a causal approach of conveying any particular aspect to other, rather it is a systematic approach of guiding or assisting others toward the accomplishment of their goals and targets in both personal and professional realms (Furlong & Maynard, 2012). Hence, professionalism is highly appreciated in the domain of mentoring or coaching. In organizational workplace, mentoring acts as an important tool towards maximum retention of the employees. My learning experiences with the LC&D unit enabled me to understand that I should have a strict professional approach towards my conduct while being associated with the mentoring job. From my learning experience and my belief, I can depict that a professionalism approach in mentoring activities will not only ensure maximum positive results from my conduct as I could be able to guide others towards the accomplishment of their goals in a comprehensive and effective manner. This will also act as an important achievement as far as mentoring profession is concerned. 4.0. Progress Review I have set certain goals for myself in section 2 of the paper towards my personal and professional development. The process of continuous learning also enhances the ability of an individual towards dealing with various challenges and problems that arise in his/her life. In this regard, the aspect of Continuing/Continuous Professional Development (CPD) will be quite significant to be taken into concern and discussed. Over the years, through this particular approach of continuous personal and professional development of learning, I have developed my skills and abilities regarding various aspects. In the goals section of the discussion, I have set out certain targets, which I intended to attain through the course of involvement with the LC&D course and my personal approach regarding the same. I have set the goal for enhancing my presentation skills with regard to the aspect of employability. In this context, I have considered to adopt the approach where I will work on my strengths with regard to presentation and improvement of the same. I have tried this particular approach for which, I gained certain positive feedbacks from people around me. I used to conduct presentations on various current issues in front of my friends and colleagues, where I intend to provide the information in a more comprehensive and simple manner, which is again one of my strengths. To be noted, it is one of the most effective approaches that I have taken towards improving my employability skills. Again, I have also set goals to attain better listening and focusing skills in the process of enhancing my chances of making a career in coaching or mentoring. As mentioned earlier, active listening and focusing are among the most crucial aspects associated with the profession of mentoring. In this context, I have taken the approach of interacting more with people around me in order to enhance my interpersonal communications, where I was bound to improve my attention towards listening to others. I have also improved my patience level, which is again an important point to increase the level of my focus. Through this particular approach, I have acquired certain positive results as I used to get distracted from the people around me while being in the classroom or during the lectures. I was able to concentrate more towards the work assigned to me following the strategies towards developing my listening and focusing skills. Therefore, this aspect can also be considered potential towards accomplishing my set target. I have also taken an approach towards note taking as a part of my learning management process. I lacked quite a bit in the area of managing the knowledge acquired while being in the classroom. In order to deal with this particular challenge, I have adopted the approach of note taking, where I was able to preserve my learning for future references according to my convenience. In this particular context, I also adopted the approach of organizing myself in manner, where I was able to take notes effectively during the lectures. I have also developed my ability where I was able to segregate amid the information that is to be noted and the information that is to be excluded while taking the note. These two approaches worked positively towards my learning management development. 5.0. Plan of Action As depicted previously, continuous development is one of the most important factors towards attaining set goals and targets in life. Contextually, in order to attain my goals and targets in terms of the aspect of employability and coaching, I would need to be continuously involved in the process of learning. Firstly, I have the set goals to improve my skills towards listening. This particular aspect is quite important as it is one of the primary steps towards strengthening interpersonal communication skills of any individual (Alessandra & Associates, Inc., 2005). The next step towards continuous development of my listening skills will include enhancing my concentration towards listening, involving in mind mapping and enhancing body language towards listening among others. In order to attain these goals, I will need certain resources, which mainly include arranging a separate time for conducting these aspects, an environment where I could be able to explore my learning abilities and a mentor who will continuously guide me towards my achievement of the determined goals for improving my listening skills (Downs, 2008). Additionally, I have also set goals to enhance my presentation skills with regard to the aspect of employability. Contextually, in order to assure continuous development, I will need to engage myself with certain activities that can ensure the compliance of these particular goals. In order to enhance my presentation skills, I will primarily develop my competency with regard to the utilization of PowerPoint tool in a proper manner, while developing presentations (Kahrs, 2000). When performing this particular action, I will require the assistance of a proper instructor who can guide me with computers and developing presentations. Again, I have also determined goals for myself towards attaining the feat of proper learning management through note taking, while being in the class. In this regard, the resources I require will be to ensure greater attention while being in the classroom and subsequently, taking out time to get continuously involved in interaction with others in classroom with the purpose of developing my note-taking ability. A succinct plan of action to depict evidence of the action taken towards accomplishing the set goals of mine is provided hereunder. 6.0. Reflective Summary From the overall analysis, it is quite apparent that continuous professional and personal development is vital to attain maximum success in life. Continuous development as well as learning might be in the form of enhancing the present skills of an individual along with identifying new skills and abilities that an individual can be able to acquire in accordance with his/her personality and behavioural traits. With the intention of continuous development in my behavioural aspect along with personality to ensure a better personal and professional life, I have associated myself with the LC&D unit. In my professional domain, I was always attracted towards the area of coaching and mentoring and believe to have the capability to manage people well. I have been quite appreciated by others, including my family members and colleagues/classmates, for my skills and competencies towards interpersonal communications. I am good in interaction with others and is competent enough to comprehend what they intend to depict in an effective manner. This aspect can be deemed as quite important in the professional domain of mentoring. However, it will be important to mention that there are still certain skills and abilities that I need to develop in order to attain maximum personal development and further assure a better professional career altogether. Contextually, I have set certain specific goals for myself towards enhancing my abilities regarding listening and focusing in the subject matter of mentoring, note taking in the subject area of learning management and acquiring presentation skills in the domain of employability. I have analysed that in order to enhance my presentation skills, I will need to develop myself in the area where I am strong and keep the ideas in the presentations simple and straight to the point. Following this particular approach, I was able to gain positive results, which has certainly my skills regarding presentation skills, which will further help me in improving my employability skills. I have also set goals to improve my skills of focusing and listening, which is again important in the sphere of mentoring. In this context, I have provided more focus on interacting with others more frequently and intended to get less distracted from others in order to remain focused towards my work. This aspect also depicted certain positive results for me, which acted as an important component towards my personal development. However, in order to safeguard continuous learning, I have actively engaged myself to take additional steps towards attaining my goals and objectives that I have set while being associated with the LC&D program/unit. References Alessandra & Associates, Inc., 2005. 10 Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.alessandra.com/platinum_members/listening_report.asp [Accessed March 14, 2014]. British Council, No Date. Lifelong Learning Strategies. United Kingdom. [Online] Available at: http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-skills-for-employability-uk-country-lifelong-strategies.htm [Accessed March 10, 2014]. Downs, L. J., 2008. Listening Skills Training. American Society for Training and Development. Furlong, J. & Maynard, T., 2012. Mentoring Student Teachers: The Growth of Professional Knowledge. Routledge. Huang, R. & Busby, G., 2007. Activist, Pragmatist, Reflector or Theorist? In Search of Postgraduate Learning Styles in Tourism and Hospitality Education. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 92-100. Jones, R. L. & et. al., 2008. An Introduction to Sports Coaching. Routledge. Kahrs, T. K., 2000. Enhancing Your Presentation Skills. iUniverse. Kalbfleisch, P. J., 2002. Communicating in Mentoring Relationships: A Theory for Enactment. Academia, pp. 63-69. LeFever, M., 2011. Learning Styles. David C Cook. Myers, I. B., 2000. Introduction to Type: A Guide to Understanding Your Results on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Oxford Psychologists Press. The Institute for Clinical Research Education, No Date. Ethics in Mentoring. Home. [Online] Available at: https://www.icre.pitt.edu/mentoring/ethics.html [Accessed March 14, 2014]. Bibliography Bell, B. & Mladenovic, R., 2013. How Tutors Understand And Engage With Reflective Practices. Reflective Practice, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 1–11. Chan, J. T. & Mallett, C. J., 2011. The Value of Emotional Intelligence for High Performance Coaching. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 315-328. Elliot, D. L. & Campbell, T., 2013. Really On The Ball: Exploring the Implications of Teachers PE-CPD Experience. Sport, Education and Society, pp.1-18. OECD, 2000. Where are the Resources for Lifelong Learning? OECD Publishing. Reynolds, M., 2011. Reflective Practice: Origins and Interpretations. Action Learning: Research and Practice, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 5–13. Appendix Isabel Briggs Myers Indicator Read More