5. ECF Requirement: Personal Development Planning

“... it is not the intention to be prescriptive here but set out the expectation that programmes must demonstrate the processes used to facilitate reflective practice in the context of employability skills. However, the review of PDP identified that the “embedded model of PDP apparently has a lot of advantages, not least, high reported levels of student engagement” and so this should be encouraged.

Drawing on the experiences gained in introducing the MMU Professional Passport personal development planning would be enhanced with the inclusion of the following, probably in core units at Levels 5 and/or 6:

• Production of an appropriate Curriculum Vitae
• Evaluation of skills developed within the programme and their relevance to future employment
• Evidence of effective answers to competency based questions as used in application forms ”

Introduction

The National Committee of Inquiry in Higher Education recommended in 1997 that Progress Files should be introduced into HE. The guidance was updated in the QAA document Personal development planning: guidance for institutional policy and practice in higher education in 2009

From this we can note that there is a clarity about process and product. The products (records, reviews, plans) belong to the individual. The institution’s involvement relates to provision of the the transcipt and to the provision of structured and supported processes of PDP.

At MMU, a bottom-up approach to implementation of PDP has resulted in an appropriately diverse range of models of PDP, where the key features of reflection on learning and achievement, and planning for personal and career development, are supported and structured in a variety of ways.

 

PDP Minimum requirements derived from QAA

The minimum requirements for PDP are set out in the QAA Progress Files for Higher Education documentation.

For MMU this could translate as follows:

1. All MMU students on HE award bearing programmes are provided with an introduction to PDP or to PDP based activities (where these are embedded within provision rather than being specifically articulated as “PDP” to students) at an appropriate time before, or soon after, the beginning of their programme of study.
2. Students are ultimately expected to take responsibility for their own personal development planning. Input from other sources may take the form of individual tutorial guidance; an explicit ethos of personal development demonstrably pervading the curriculum or field of study; core units delivering PDP opportunities; workshops delivered from within or outside of the curriculum; involvement of professional bodies etc. The nature and scope of opportunities for PDP and their recording and support strategies will be determined by individual programmes.
3. All MMU students are given opportunities for guidance on how to reflect on their learning and on how to develop their transferable skills.
4. All MMU students are given opportunities for guidance on how to build personal development plans within the context of their fields of study and to articulate their achievements to enhance their employability.
5. All MMU students are provided with opportunities to extend and develop their personal development planning throughout their programme of study whether their learning takes place on- or off-campus.
6. All MMU students will be provided with information on how they might integrate extra-curricula experiences (e.g. voluntary work, placement learning, part-time employment etc) in to their own PDP.
7. Programme teams should determine the nature and purpose of PDP as it relates to their programme, and this should be articulated in relation to each level of the programme in programme documentation, and also made clear to students (whether or not specifically labelled PDP) e.g. via the programme handbook.
8. All prospectuses carry a general statement of the MMU PDP policy regarding the institutional commitment to the promotion of the skills and attitudes underlying effective PDP and its connection to the development of the independent autonomous learner and the spirit of lifelong learning.

 

What is the value of PDP to students?

It can be argued that PDP is, and always has been an integral part of what we do in higher education. In many areas (e.g. Art and Design, Performance, Health Care and many others), reflection and recording of personal development as a practitioner has always been central to study and in many other disciplines there are strong elements of this kind of practice.

However, making explicit reference to, and development around PDP, encourages students to reflect directly on the process of learning, and to gain an awareness of their goals and their progress towards these.

With an increasing emphasis on the employability of students, PDP offers a mechanism for the development of personal attributes, attitudes and, where appropriate, artefacts to heighten personal awareness of what each student has to offer to others (which may include employers) and in a world where lifelong learning is not just a buzzword, but a necessity.

 

Why should staff value PDP?

There are also strong indications that where members of academic staff are enthusiastic about PDP, their students will engage at a much deeper level and there is mounting anecdotal evidence that where effective practice in PDP exists, students “become easier to teach”. Further indications from the QAA. The QAA produced updated guidelines in January 2009.