Professional Development Plan (PDP) & Review - Developing new skills Assignment

Professional Development Plan (PDP) & Review - Developing new skills and behaviours - Assignment Example Since the cycle of development is a continuous process, it is only via reviewing the plan effectively in order to formulate appropriate plans for the future steps. Furthermore, the effective review of the plan can also identify the effectiveness of one’s plan, and that their direction is aligned to their future ambitions. Objectives/Goals Students, just as professionals, require a professional development plan to monitor their academic progress. This tool enables the student to devise a plan which to follow in ensuring their success and development into a sort-after employee (Barrett, 2008). A student’s learning environment is central to their success and as such they must be provided with suitable physical and mental environment from which to grow their academic ambitions. The recent past has seen huge developments in technology that has seen some technologies like the iPad rise into prominence. As a result, Barrett (2008) believes that it is vital to keep up to date w ith such technological advancements in order to keep by the CPD standards as well as improve the personal performance of the student, team performances as well as inflict organisational or institutional excellence. In order to achieve this, it is essential to set SMARTe goals. The set goals should be strategic and specific with respect to the student’s needs, they can be measured, they are attainable, they should be results oriented or relevant, they can be achieved within a specific period of time and they must also accommodate everyone. The major objectives include: i. To ensure that the students have a supportive, safe, and equitable environment for learning their activities. ii. To explore as well as implement different instructional strategies in order to increase the achievement of the students. iii. To increase the achievement of the students via the use of technological applications in the classroom as well as in the instruction and management of data in the instituti on. Professional Development Plan A professional development plan (PDP) is a tool that enables students to identify their existing skills as well as help them develop new plans for the further development of other skills in desired and or relevant fields. Employers all over the globe are placing greater emphasis on skills and their advancement or development. As a result, it vital that students be able to lay bare that the skills they possess have been acquired and developed actively over a relatively long time. The development of such skills enables students to develop into productive professionals as well as placing them into better positions to compete for the ever reducing opportunities for employment after successful completion of their academic courses. Day and Sachs (2004) define CPD as â€Å"a term used to describe all the activities in which professionals engage during the course of a career, which are designed to enhance their work† (p. 3). Progress Review Among the underpinning stones of long-term learning is the ability to self evaluate as well as update personal skills and knowledge. Critical skills for students’ development are the abilities to learn via experience and become progressively more self critical and self aware (Luzinski, 2011). This can be determined via evaluation and reflection