Continuous Professional Development - Personal Statement Example

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT by CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Personal Introduction – Personal profile and Professional aims From an early age, I have admired and respected the work done and undertaken by coaches or mentors. I especially admired the work done by my high school coach who also doubled as a mentor. Since then, I have undertaken different short courses so as to enhance my mentoring and coaching qualifications. Continuous professional development is an analysis that focuses on evaluating my development needs, how they might be met and subsequently outlines the aims and objectives of the future. As such, it aids to analyze and structure my needs. The CPD should answer the following questions: 1. Where am I currently? 2. Where am I heading? 3. And how am I getting there? My work as a coach spans several years. Thus, apart from coaching, my work as a coach has extended to encompass and include mentoring. Kram (1983) defined a mentor as a trusted and wise teacher or counselor. Both terms (mentor and coach) are often used interchangeably. On the other hand, the art of mentoring/ coaching is simply defined as an act of encouraging or supporting other people to further their learning so that they can improve the potential, performance and develop their skills further. Thus, mentoring enables a person to become what he/she wants to be. I take a lot of pleasure from coaching/mentoring people in an informal setting. Subsequently, I have also gained a lot from interacting with various colleagues since each person tends to bring some new aspect/element from their experiences and personality. The main reason I use the terms coaching and mentoring interchangeably is because I feel like my coaching role when looked from a wider perspective encompasses a mentoring role also. However, Showers, B., & Joyce, B. (1996) defined coaching as the act of unlocking an individual’s potential so as to improve their performance. Self-Study Analysis / Awareness. Research into CPD The coaching experience has generally been a vital experience since it has enabled me to develop mentally in addition to giving me more confidence. My interaction with colleagues has led to good relations amongst us. As such, I am able to receive good advice and directions from colleagues who are more experienced than me. Also, I am confident that I have friends and colleagues to whom I can turn when I need guidance and advice. Today, due to the ever changing priorities and government policies in relation to my profession and industry, the need for training and education is at an all time high. Therefore, my skills and professional qualifications should match the challenges in the employment and job sector. The continuous professional development ensures that I remain and focus on my professional development. Hence, it helps me not to steer away from my main objectives and set goals. On a broader perspective, having a CPD ensures that I am in charge of my professional growth. Subsequently, I will then figure out how that growth affects me. CPD as a process aids individuals to manage and get in charge of their development and progress on a continuous basis. Primarily, CPD helps staff and individuals to record, review or reflect about what they have acquired throughout their work or careers. In light of this, it is my commitment to update my knowledge and skills continually so as to remain competitive. Being competitive enables one to achieve his or her full potential. Continuous professional development is vital because it enables one to; acquire new skills ie communication and teamwork, improve his/her skills, be informed on the current changes and trends in practice, reflect on his career, and lastly it enables one to know and comprehend new policies and legislation in the work environment. A coach has to acquire and learn new skills always. As such, a coach has to evolve continuously in his /her career so as to benefit the people under him. Furthermore, new skills will enable the coach to modify how the people under him work. When CPD is carried continuously, some specific areas are developed. For instance, CPD allows staff to be properly trained so as to allow them to plan or implement effectively various activities that will enhance the coaching/mentoring experience. As a result, the coach will be able to tailor the mentoring act to suit each and every individual’s needs. Through this, people with special needs will be able to be taken care of effectively. Also, CPD tends to address the procedures and routines that are found in a specific setting. To structure the setting, CPD has to be employed in the relevant setting. CPD can’t be acquired via formal and informal settings. For example CPD in a formal setting/ environment encompasses; structured discussions or seminars, professional seminars and courses, formal learning, and formal teaching. All this activities have learning as an outcome. In an unformal setting, a person can engage in the process via informal learning, teaching or private study. Like all processes, CPD has its strengths and weaknesses. However, its benefits often outweigh its weaknesses. The main benefit for CPD is that it gives the user an increased self-esteem when he/she looks back at his/her achievements. On the contrary, CPD is a time consuming process. Evaluation of Strengths and Preferences Apart from the mentoring experience imparting me with new knowledge, it has also made me reflect on my academics as a student. Openness is one of my main skills that enabled me to create a good rapport between me, my colleagues, and the people I am coaching. As such, I am easily approachable. Underwood (1989) implied that for any relationship to be successful, the elements of freedom of expression, respect and trust should be mutually shared. Nevertheless, this relationship based on trust and openness has taken time to build. I have created time for formal meetings where we review and set goals or objectives. Additionally, we also possess informal meetings where people are encouraged to express themselves freely. Next, my skills as a good listener have developed over time. Thus, I have become a better listener than I was before. This enables me to listen to the speaker keenly hence comprehending his message more clearly. Underwood (1989) implied that listening as a skill is quite vital in nearly all areas. The key to being a good listener is for me to suspend my judgment and give the speaker uninterrupted time to air his/her views. Since my role as a mentor and coach is relatively new, I find myself learning new things and skills most of the time. Mostly, I acquire new knowledge from reading about the subject. Also, I learn from the mistakes I have committed. Additionally, I have developed excellent questioning skills. In fact, Brownell (2005) argued that information got via the use of questions is more specific and clearer. Through the use of questions, you can prod the other person to talk more (Beyer, B. 1984). By nature, human beings never cease to learn; learning occurs at different stages during our lives. Thus, people acquire competencies and skills in a wide array of subjects. Through learning and work experiences, I am able to identify or figure out my strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities in self-development. When undertaking a SWOT analysis, most of my strengths have been highlighted in the above text. One of my major weaknesses is that I find confrontation/ daunting tasks and situations to be a bit difficult for me. As such, I should improve on my confrontation skills. Brownell, J. (2005) discussed the issues of challenge, confrontation and conflict in his book Listening: Attitudes, principles, and skills. He argued that conflict is an aspect which is inevitable during interaction. Time is the main threat that is affecting my coaching and learning activities. I do not find enough time to study as much as I want. According to Weenig & Maarleveld (2002), time constraints normally affect the frequency of both informal and formal meetings negatively. Thus, time management is a vital aspect when things are to be done right. This does not infer that I will manipulate the time, but rather it means that I have to give some activities more priority than others. Another skill that I will embrace is time awareness. It is basically the key to effective time management. When looking at opportunities, I plan to develop my skills and knowledge further by undertaking various training courses. Thus, I will gain more knowledge to get ahead in my future career. Review of objectives and goals continuously is recommended since it helps to keep an individual up to date with the current trends, demands and responsibilities at the workplace. Thus, it is significant to monitor, evaluate and review one’s progress since it helps to measure success or improvement and also identifies problems. Self-development consists of tasks that try to develop talents and potential, improve identity and awareness, enhance the quality of people’s lives, improve employability and lead to the realization of a person’s aspirations and goals. At times, I tend to feel that I am getting nowhere in regard to my career and education. However, this feeling is as a result of me not taking the time to assess or ponder on what I want to attain/ achieve in my life, and thus I have not set specific achievable goals. The biggest voyage we as people will ever traverse is the journey of life, and we shouldn’t commence without a specific idea of the destination. We need to set goals ourselves and know what we want to achieve in life. The idea and concept of setting goals require time, effort, patience and most importantly discipline. Goals and objectives give us the short term motivation which will enable us achieve our long term visions. When goals are being set, it is necessary and imperative that they abide by the SMART principle (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time bound). Personal Goals The formal education I am currently receiving will propel and support me to achieve or attain my long term goals. My goal is to complete my education successfully with good grades. To break them further, my short term goal is to submit all my assignments within the stipulated time frames. Subsequently, my medium goal is to complete my education successfully. Lastly, I aim to have a stable and rewarding career after school. The art of updating and managing my CPD for both informal and formal learning will enable me to achieve / attain my aims and goals. References Beyer, B. K. (1984). Improving thinking skills: Defining the problem. Phi Delta Kappan, 486-490. Brownell, J. (2005). Listening: Attitudes, principles, and skills. Allyn & Bacon. Kram, K. E. (1983). Phases of the mentor relationship. Academy of Management journal, 26(4), 608-625. Showers, B., & Joyce, B. (1996). The evolution of peer coaching. Educational leadership, 53, 12-16. Underwood, M. (1989). Teaching listening. Addison-Wesley Longman Ltd. Weenig, M. W., & Maarleveld, M. (2002). The impact of time constraint on information search strategies in complex choice tasks. Journal of Economic Psychology, 23(6), 689-702. Read More