Key Aspects of Personal Development Planning - Essay Example

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING al Affiliation) Module Guide for Personal Development Planning Lesson for New Introduction to Personal Development Planning: The introductory section guides the students through the outline of the Personal Development Planning. Quality Standards of the Personal Development Planning Process: This section shall guide the students through the policies of minimum expectations in relation to the development of Personal Development Planning within the institutions. Roles of Personal Development Planning: In this section, the students shall be provided with the comprehensive information related to the specific roles of developing a PDP. Benefits of Formulating Personal Development Planning: This shall provide guidance to the students in relation to the benefits of formulating PDP’s, basically acting as a means to encourage them. Characteristics of an Appropriate Personal Development Plan: This section entails the description of the specific facets of an effective Personal Development Plan. Framework of a Personal Development Plan within the Institution: Under this section, the students shall be guided on the overall framework of the Personal Development Plan, basically describing issues such as: Formats applied in the Institution, time frame to be covered et cetera. Benefits of Studying Personal Development Planning at Higher Education Level There are various institutions of higher learning in the contemporary society that have formulated and implemented polices geared towards promoting Personal Development Planning. This is usually associated with various potential benefits that may arise when students and other stakeholders are exposed to Personal Development Planning. The aspect of developing Personal Development Planning will create the following benefits: Benefits of Personal Development Planning Among Students The essence of Personal Development Planning among students is ascribed to various benefits, to begin with: It enables students to integrate academic as well as personal development into their specific academic programs thus improving their general academic performance. In addition, Personal Development among students can improve their capacity to monitor and assess their personal progress in regard to various aspects of learning (Smale & Fowlie, 2009). Research has also shown that the application of Personal Development Planning at Institutions of Higher Learning is imperative owing to the fact that it promotes a sense of increased awareness among the students. The awareness occurs in various forms i.e. increased awareness of the specific learning methods that are used within the institutions and the specific goals of these learning strategies (Cottrell, 2003). Personal Development Planning in Institutions of Higher Learning creates a platform for self-assessment among the students, hence increases their capacity to evaluate their weaknesses and strengths. Moreover, it also creates a scenario where the students are in a position to explore various opportunities within the learning curriculum, thus facilitate the aspect of Personal Development Planning within and outside the curriculum (Cottrell, 2003). Research has also indicated that Personal Development Planning among students within institutions of higher learning enables the students to prepare themselves for their future career objectives i.e. to seek employment in their fields of interest or being self-employed within their career choices as well as facilitate their efforts to relate what they have learnt with the requirements of the real field application (http://www.bolton.ac.uk, n.d). Benefits of Personal Development Planning Among Staff in Institutions of Higher Learning The benefits of Personal Development Planning extend towards the staff of Institutions of Higher Learning for instance; among Lecturers, tutors et cetera. The first benefit of PDP among the staff within such institutions is the fact that Personal Development Planning is platform that allows tutors and lecturers to assist student to be independent with regard to the procedures of learning. This improves the quality and experience of tutors in relation to their efforts towards Personal Development Planning tutoring Systems (Smale & Fowlie, 2009). Moreover, PDP among the staff of the institutions of higher learning enables them to properly utilize the learning facilities within the institution through the creation of mechanisms whereby career related skills as well as capacities are recorded (http://www.bolton.ac.uk, n.d). Personal Development Planning among staff is also pertinent owing to the fact that it improves the understanding of the lecturers, tutors and other support staff in relation to specific capacities of individual students. Benefits of Personal Development Planning on the Departments of Institutions of Higher Learning The essence of Personal Development Planning has also been exhibited among the various departments that exist within institutions of Higher Learning. To begin with, it enables the departments through the department heads to effectively and efficiently monitor the progress of their students. Additionally, PDP in these departments also creates a favorable environment for developing and implementing proper students’ guidance and support systems (Cottrell, 2003). Personal Development Planning is also a crucial factor that enables the departments to undertake external review processes with an intention to assess the quality of the support and guidance systems they provide to individual students. Changes I Would like to Bring into Personal Development Planning in Future To begin with, learning and development are usually integrated in nature in that, one compliments the other. Research has indicated that Learning is continuous and a lifelong processes, that is it does not stop. In this regard, I would like to introduce Personal Development Strategies that do not only begin at secondary and tertiary levels of learning, but start from primary and early learning stages. This is imperative owing to the fact that it gives the learners adequate time and opportunity to undertake self-assessment hence gain imperative skills that enables them to perform effective Personal Development Planning. Another Change that I would like to bring into future activities of Personal Development Planning is the integration of individual talents, specifically personal hobbies and talents in co-curricular activities. This would ensure that the aspect of personal development does not specifically focus on academic issues, but also focus on development talents with regard to co-curricular activities. Moreover, I would like to employ a strategy of Personal Development Planning, whereby other concerned stakeholders are engaged in certain aspects of decision making. That is, introduction of a strategy that would allow student’s parents to be involved in the process of Personal Development Planning of their children, basically acting as mentors as well as tutors. In addition, I would like to introduce an assessment criterion whereby students’ Personal Development Plans are assessed on a regular basis i.e. weekly basis. This is imperative in the sense that it would facilitate a faster identification of certain challenges facing the students in relation of the formulation of their Personal Development Plans, hence promoting early resolution of the identified challenges. Assessments done after a long period of time i.e. on a yearly basis may be characterized by challenges ascribed to limited time to correct certain mistakes made by the students. On the other hand, I would like to introduce teaching strategies that integrates issues ascribed to co-curricular activities and academic facets. This is would create an opportunity for the students to determine the advantages of integrating such information within their Personal Development Planning, thus promote efficiency in regard to the formulation of PDP’s. Explanation for the Design of the Module Guide The module begins by introduction of Personal Development Planning to the New Students; the introductory section is usually important as a means to prepare learners to new topics. It is also important owing to the fact that it prepares students by describing certain facets that are needed for effective learning in relations to issues of Personal Development Planning. The Module also a quality standard section that is pertinent in that it describes the quality standards that are usually applied in developing PDP’s within the institution. This is followed by the sections that will guide the students through the roles of PDP’s among the students; this is imperative owing to the fact that it acts as form of motivation of students as indicates why the development of PDP’s will improve their efforts towards developing their careers. The next topic in the Module guide entails a description of the benefits associated with formulation of Personal Development Planning; this also acts as a motivating factor to the students, while equipping them with the knowledge of PDP’s benefits. On the other hand, the other topic on the Module Guide focuses on providing students with knowledge on the specific characteristics of an appropriate Personal Development Planning, thus enabling them to avoid errors that may arise as they develop their PDP’s. Consequently, the last section in the Module Guide focuses on the framework applied to develop a PDP in the institution; this shall provide guidance to the students in relation to the time frame they are required to develop their PDP as well as the overall format of developing a Personal Development Planning recommended by the University. Studies on PDP in GSM The study of Personal Development Planning at the GSM has improved my personal assessment efforts thus increasing my capacity to determine my strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, it has also improved my understanding in relation to several issues associated with the formulation of Personal Development Planning for instance: The benefits of Personal Development Planning, characteristics of a PDP as well as the frameworks that may be used to formulate a Personal Development Plan. In addition, have learnt that the development of Personal Development Plan may be guided by certain institutional policies that vary from one institution to another; these policies are usually implemented in order to specify the procedures and the quality standards recommended by the institutions in the process of developing Personal Development Plans among students. Bibliography Cottrell, S. (2003). Skills for success: the personal development planning handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Personal Development Planning. (n.d.). Personal Development Planning. Retrieved April 7, 2014, from http://www.bolton.ac.uk/LEPDU/Documents/PDPFramework.pdf Smale, B., & Fowlie, J. (2009). How to succeed at university an essential guide to academic skills and personal development. Los Angeles: SAGE. Read More