Personal Development Planning Guidelines (2012) 4 Page

Personal Development Planning Guidelines (2012) 4 | Page

/ Personal Development Planning (PDP)

Guidance on implementing and reviewing departmental Personal Development Planning (PDP) processes for undergraduate and taught postgraduate students

Introduction

In the period since PDP was introduced there has been a significant growth in the types of structured support, and opportunities for reflective learning, that departments provide for their students. This support ranges from skills development modules to aid transition to new levels of study, to dedicated training to support engagement with specific assessment tasks, to career development and employability modules and activities - all of which are relevant to PDP. The guidance here is designed for those new to PDP as well as those looking to revisit, review and develop existing practice. It refers specifically to undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses. Academic and career development for PGR students is governed by the Researcher Development Framework.

What is PDP?

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) defines PDP as:

‘a structured and supported process undertaken by a learner to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development’ (2009)

The crucial word in this definition is ‘process’. PDP is not a form that students fill-in, a portfolio they complete, or a set of meetings they attend, but rather a whole process which supports learning and development. Documentation, dedicated resources, workshops, opportunities for discussion etc. are all important ways of helping facilitate this process, but they do not represent the process as a whole. Activities which support students’ engagement with their own learning and academic progress are just as important as those which focus on career development and employability. Indeed, PDP should provide students with a means to recognise and articulate the inter-relationships between the two.

At the University of Leicester, the responsibility for implementing and supporting PDP rests principally with departments and is one of the items identified for review in the guidelines on departmental annual developmental review. Departments wishing to obtain advice and support in relation to PDP can contact the Learning Development Manager, Steve Rooney (). See Table 1 (p.4) for details of the support and advice available.

In what ways do departments support PDP?

There are a number of ways in which departments support their students’ engagement with PDP. Approaches vary across the University, depending on such factors as: modes of study; course structures; course content; pre-existing traditions of reflective learning; the demands of external professional or governing bodies etc. Despite a wide variety of approaches, however, the following features are common across many departments and disciplines at the University of Leicester:

·  PDP is integrated, to some extent at least, with mainstream curriculum activities such as introductory modules, skills development workshops and resources, and department-level employability activities;

·  PDP is supported, where appropriate and applicable, through personal tutor systems;

·  students are provided with generic, adapted, or departmentally-designed forms of documentation to help facilitate and capture reflections and plans.

The resource, Five steps to implementing/reviewing departmental practice, available on the ‘PDP - support for academic staff’ web pages, provides a more detailed guide to implementing and reviewing PDP processes at departmental or course level.

Where does PDP fit with my department’s broader engagement with supporting students’ learning and career development?

As mentioned above, in recent years there has been a significant increase in activities to support students’ learning and career development – both key objectives of PDP. It is important, therefore, for departments to ensure that the links between broader developmental activities and PDP are made clear to students. Once again Five steps to implementing/reviewing departmental practice provides guidance and advice on this. Also included on the ‘PDP - support for academic staff’, is a template for providing brief descriptions of PDP practice. In addition, the general online information for students about PDP (housed on Learning Development’s website) has been updated to include references to the variety of ways in which students encounter PDP on their respective courses of study. Finally, the University of Leicester’s Guidelines on the Production of Departmental and Postgraduate Student Handbooks (p19) provide standard text and guidance on how departments should refer to PDP in handbooks.

What about vocational or vocationally-oriented courses?

In the case of vocational or vocationally-oriented courses, where reflection on progress, reflective learning, portfolio-building etc. are often integrated elements of the curriculum (as is the case with many taught postgraduate courses, for example), there is no need impose an additional entire ‘layer’ of reflective activities. However, it may well be that more learning development-focused elements of PDP can be incorporated in order to ensure students have the opportunity to reflect on their academic progress through the course. Likewise, students may also benefit from reflecting on the more ‘representational’ aspects of employability (writing effective CVs and applications, preparing for and performing well at interviews, being able to refer to, and evidence, transferable skills etc.).

Similarly, mid-career professionals, studying part-time courses as part of a broader CPD process (again, as is common with many taught postgraduate programmes) should also be able to access materials to help them reflect on their academic progress and to be able to articulate their skills, achievements and experiences to employers.

To help these and other taught postgraduate students engage with PDP, we have recently updated our generic online resources for taught postgraduate students. Departments can direct their students to these. However, they should, where possible, integrate and adapt generic materials to their own contexts.

What role do documentation, and/or portfolios play?

Documentation should always be viewed as an enabler of the broader PDP process rather than its driver. The different contexts in which documentation is commonly used include:

·  reflection and planning exercises to be discussed with personal tutors;

·  reflection and planning exercises to be embedded in skills development modules and workshops (e.g. in sessions or resources to support essay-writing, presentation skills or develop dissertation research skills);

·  learning journals, diaries or portfolios to support reflection on progress.

Generic documentation, for use and adaptation, is available on the ‘PDP - support for academic staff’ web pages.

Portfolios (in electronic, paper or mixed formats) can be a valuable means of facilitating critical reflection on learning and development. They are most effective if allied, initially at least, to structured learning contexts (within a module, for example).

What about the role of the personal tutor?

The University of Leicester’s Code of Practice for Personal Support for Students on Taught Programmes, states that personal tutors are responsible supporting students in reflecting on their ‘progress and personal development skills’. As such, personal tutors have an important role to play in supporting and encouraging engagement with PDP. To support this process, personal tutors should ensure they are aware of the range of sources of help and information available, so that they can refer their students accordingly.

What’s the relationship between PDP and the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR)?

The Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) provides a means by which undergraduate students can monitor, in greater detail, their academic progress and performance in various modules of study. In addition, HEAR also contains a section for students to record and recognise engagement in accredited extra-curricular activities such as the Leicester Award for Employability or Languages @Leicester. As such, it provides a useful point of reference for discussions and reflections about both academic and career development. Departments are advised, therefore, to encourage students to refer to their HEARs as part of the overall PDP process. The updated generic documentation, available on the ‘PDP - support for academic staff’ web pages, has been designed to account for the introduction of the HEAR.

What support can departments obtain in implementing and reviewing their PDP practice?

Advice on the ways in which departments can support PDP is available from the Learning Development Manager, Steve Rooney (). He can provide advice on supporting PDP and also provide resources and materials for departments to adapt for their own purposes (see Table 1, below)

Table 1: Supporting the implementation and development of PDP.

The role of departments in supporting PDP / The role of the Learning Development Manager in supporting departments
·  making students aware of PDP and how it is supported - via departmental web pages, relevant Blackboard courses (see the references to PDP on the module and programme-level templates for Bb 9.1 courses) and Departmental Handbooks (see the University’s guidelines on the production of Departmental and Postgraduate Student Handbooks)
·  ensuring PDP information, resources, documentation etc. are accurate and up-to-date
·  articulating and explaining the links between PDP and the broader developmental support available to students
·  reviewing practice to ensure PDP is effectively integrated into mainstream departmental practice
·  where applicable, integrating PDP into personal tutor systems (see the University of Leicester’s Code of Practice for Personal Support for Students on Taught Programmes) / ·  responding to requests from departments for advice on approaches to the implementation, review and integration of PDP
·  providing generic information and resources for departments to adapt for their own purposes
·  advice on articulating PDP practice to students
·  facilitating practice-sharing, where appropriate
·  incorporating PDP exercises and activities into departmental learning development activities (e.g. skills development modules, workshops or resources)
·  liaising with Careers Service colleagues to provide resources to support students engagement with the University of Leicester’s Employability Vision
·  Liaising with College Academic Directors to support, where necessary, the development of PDP practice across Colleges (see relevant College Academic Strategies and Plans)