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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

The Dearing Report (1998) identified that programmes in Higher Education need “to equip
graduates with the skills and attributes needed to be effective in a changing world of work
and upon which to found and manage a number of careers. Graduates will need to be able to
identify their own development needs and be committed to lifelong learning”. Personal
development planning (PDP) is a term used to describe the “means by which students can
monitor, build and reflect upon their personal development”.
The Quality Assurance Agency (2001) define a PDP as: “a structured and supported process
undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or
achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development” whilst
Assister (1993) considers that a PDP is “a document which records student development or
his/her achievement gained whether in the academic setting, the workplace or elsewhere”.
Managers.org.uk (2018) define it as : …..the process of:  establishing aims and objectives
(or goals) - what you want to achieve or where you want to go, in the short, medium or long-
term in your career  assessing current realities  identifying needs for skills, knowledge or
competence  selecting appropriate development activities to meet those perceived needs.

Personal Development Planning is a structured and supported process undertaken by an

individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and / or achievement and to plan
for their personal, educational and career development. The primary objective for PDP is to
improve the capacity of individuals to understand what and how they are learning, and to
review, plan and take responsibility for their own learning, helping students to:

· become more effective, independent and confident self-directed learners;

· understand how they are learning and relate their learning to a wider context;
· improve their general skills for study and career management;
· articulate personal goals and evaluate progress towards their achievement;
· and encourage a positive attitude to learning throughout life.

As part of your studies you will be asked to reflect upon your learning and other experiences
and to use this analysis to plan your future learning. This activity aims to prepare you for
your future / current career and to ensure that your academic and professional experience
develops to meet your career aspirations and the changing requirements of the dynamic
industry in which you want to work.
There are three essential stages to PDP:

 Self-analysis,
 Reflection.
 Action planning

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This handout will identify activities for you to complete to guide you to writing and
managing your PDP.
You should review and update your plan on a regular basis – you need to identify how
regular this should be. How often you review the plan will depend, to a large extent, on the
targets you set yourself.

Self Analysis

Who am I?
Describe as many different facets of yourself as you can in the space below:
Consider things like – what experience do you have, what qualifications have you achieved,
what are your strengths and weaknesses, what are your hobbies, what are your aspirations,
why are you undertaking this course …..
I am……

Next, using the above statements as a starting point, on the following page (This is me…),
draw a picture of how you see yourself now. This can be in the form of a self-portrait, a
diagram or a stick figure and should include as much about yourself as possible, including
things you like about yourself, things you dislike, your talents, skills and qualities and maybe
other things which are impacting on you at the moment such as family, friends, work etc.

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This is me…….

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The Jelly Baby Tree

Look at the Jelly Babies on the tree below.

Which Jelly Baby are you?

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Select which Jelly Baby best identifies who you are and how you feel today – show on the
picture which one you have chosen e.g. colour it in, put a circle around it.

Which Jelly Baby are you?

Why have you chosen this Jelly Baby? (Explain what this Jelly Baby means to you)

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Priorities

Now reflect on your strengths

What are your strengths?

Next, reflect on your areas for improvement

Which are the significant areas you feel you need to improve?

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Your Action Plan

You should focus on no more than three development areas at any one period of time. You should
discuss and agree you development priorities with your module tutor or personal tutor.

Covering the period From: To:

What do I What resources What will be Target dates

What will I do
want/need to or support will I my success for review and
to achieve this?
learn? need? criteria? completion

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The Learning Cycle

(Kolb, D 1984)

Stage 1
Concrete Experience

Stage 4
Stage 2
Active Experimentation
Reflective Observation

Stage 3
Abstract
Conceptualisation

Kolb, D. (1984) experiential learning theory is one of the best-known educational theories in
higher education. Kolb states that…
“Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the
transformation of experience”.
The theory suggests that learning is cyclical and involves four stages, as shown above.
You can start anywhere on the cycle because each stage feeds into the next. A person could
start at stage 2 by acquiring some information and pondering it before reaching conclusions
at stage 3, and deciding how to apply it at stage 4. You may however start at stage 4 with a
new technique that you plan to incorporate into how you already carry out a task, using the
new technique would then be stage 1 in the cycle and reviewing how it worked would be
stage 2 etc.
The theory makes explicit the importance of reflection and feedback to reinforce learning
and talks about the four stages of the process of learning from experience being mutually
dependant on one another, with no stage being particularly useful on its own.
Neglect of any of the stages of learning can be a major obstacle to learning, making the
discipline of the reflective learning log particularly useful.
Personal development planning provides a mechanism to create the time and space for all
four stages to take place, so that we make the most of each learning experience we
encounter.

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Electronic PDP (ePDP)

Traditionally Personal Develop Planning makes use of paper based systems (as shown at the
end of this document). However electronic versions of these are available (termed ePDP) are
known as an eportfolio. At the University of Wolverhampton a system known as
‘PEBBLEPAD’ is used. This can be accessed by the link below:

https://pebblepad.wlv.ac.uk/

You can access this via your UoW login and password, you will have access for the duration
of your course and for a period of 12 months after completion.

For more information about PDP at the university please see:

http://www.wlv.ac.uk/study-here/student-life/study-facilities/it-facilities/eportfolio/

http://www.wlv.ac.uk/about-us/internal-departments/centre-for-academic-
practice/wolverhampton-learning-and-teaching-projects/critical-interventions-for-enhanced-
learning-cie/personal-development-planning-pdp/pdp-at-the-university-of-wolverhampton/

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References
Dearing, R. (1998) Higher Education in the Learning Society. London, UK: HMSO.
Quality Assurance Agency. (2001) Guidelines for HE Progress Files. Gloucester, UK:
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Assister, A., & Shaw, E. (1993) Using Records of Achievement in Higher Education.
London, UK: Kogan Page.
Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experiences as the Source of Learning and
Development. New Jersey, United States of America: Prentice-Hal

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