Introduction
Every student needs to take charge of his or her professional growth and development. Many times, students fall into the trap of assuming that the academic institution they attend is responsible for their professional development. A personal development plan (PDP) is useful in the process of taking charge of an individual’s professional development. This reflection paper looks at various facets of professional development. This paper aims to develop a well-reasoned set of professional and social goals based on insight from literature, and insights developed from participating in academic exercises.
Acculturation
New students suffer from culture shock. Foreign students suffer from culture shock more severely than local ones (UKCISA 2012). Culture shock arises from two situations. First, when someone goes to settle into a new culture, he deals with the lost people, places, and their entire cultural construct (Arthur 2004). The relationships people form over time are an important part of their cultural experience. The second aspect of culture shock is the need to adapt to a new place, with its people, language, and social norms (Griffin 1997). The extent of culture shock depends on how well someone is ready and capable to cope with the new cultural situation.
Two models used to describe culture shock include the U-model and the W-model. The U-model looks at culture shock as a three-stage process. One arm of the U represents contact with the host culture (Arthur 2004). The trough represents a conflict with the host culture, while the other arm represents adaptation with the host culture (Arthur 2004). During contact with the host culture, a new person reacts with short-lived excitement caused by the fascination that new ideals and norms bring. This stage gives way to a loss of morale and feelings of being lost in a world away from everything familiar. An individual becomes depressed and tries to find ways of clinging to the familiar things from their home culture. This stage gives way to adaptation as the need to be productive becomes apparent. The W-model is more elaborate and looks at culture shock as a series of difficulties. It models the changes in the morale of the person as he tries to adapt to the new culture (UKCISA 2012). It covers periods of relapses and periods of stability. The W-model adopted by the UK council for international Student affairs includes the cultural changes a student experiences as he goes to a new culture and as he returns home.
The UKCISA model, prepared for students assumes that all students go back to their home cultures after their education. It also assumes that the cultural shift experienced during the time spent in the UK leads to some permanent changes in the person. The final level of equilibrium is not the same as the original level.
Personal experience seems to suggest that the first part of the model is accurate. I am going through the honeymoon phase. However, rather than a steep decline into depression, and experiencing acculturation related stress, I am going through a series of bumps. While I miss my native culture, I have identified people and activities that are helping me to cope.
The induction program introduced the stresses I may go through as a new student. This gave me crucial insights into what I can do to cope. The program can improve its value if it helps in the identification of people, outside the academic community such as the Diaspora community in the country to allow me to have authentic cultural expression.
Reports and Academic Journal Comparisons
The report on “what works for students” developed after researching the aspects of student life that make the University of Wolverhampton ideal for learning brought up several issues relevant to the objectives of this review. The study aimed at identifying aspects of student experiences that contribute to learning and retention at the university. The research question was, “what were the positive factors that made a difference for the students during their journey and hence encouraged them to remain and persist in their studies at University” (ILO 2012, p. 1). The report presented six major themes from the survey showing the factors contributing to student retention in the institution. The six issues were “interactive pedagogies, responsive lecturers, sense of belonging, social learning environment, and technology in learning and cultural diversity” (ILO 2012, p. 5).
Interactive pedagogies refer to teaching methods that maximize contact and use diverse approaches such as films, PowerPoint presentations, seminars, and group activities to enhance learning (Horton 2012). My experience with interactive pedagogy is that it led to greater enjoyment of the lessons and greater appreciation of concepts taught in class. I strongly agree that the use of interactive pedagogy makes my experience in the institution more meaningful.
Responsive lecturers, according to the report, refer to aspects such as availability, support, and approachability of the faculty members. The report further states that lecturers contribute a large portion of the satisfaction students derive from the institution (ILO 2012). The importance of this aspect comes from the fact that lecturers are the primary service providers in a university. The absolute measure of the success of a student is his or her academic performance (Johnson & Johnson 2009). Therefore, supportive lecturers contribute to this objective.
Having a sense of belonging is also very important for students in a learning institution. When a student joins a university, they need to feel welcome to the new place. More importantly, they need to identify their place in the new environment. This situation becomes even more important if the student comes from a different culture. My experience is that sufficient measures went into play to ensure that I identified my place in the university community. It is ongoing.
The fourth finding was that a social learning environment contributes a lot towards making student enjoy their experience on campus. A social learning environment is one where students have the opportunity to interact among themselves in and out of class (Laster 2001). Also, it includes an environment that supports the social lives of students to enhance learning.
The use of technology in learning is also an important aspect of student life. In particular, students enjoy the use of online learning frameworks for use in their work (Horton 2012). I find it very helpful that I can access course materials, lecture notes, and university announcements online. Besides, the use of computer-based learning in the classrooms gives learning materials a better appearance, making learning more pleasant.
The final aspect presented in the report is cultural diversity. Cultural diversity refers to the rich interaction students have in the university between them and students from other parts of the world. Students learn a lot from each other because of the unique cultural mix of each cohort. I am making friends from all over the world. This is shaping my attitudes towards other people and making me a better global citizen.
Residential Program
I did not participate in the residential program because of the time constraints associated with residential programs. The strict diary for residential programs made it very difficult for me to find time to participate. Rather I found it more convenient to work based on my schedule because of the opportunity to maximize my most productive time to carry out my studies. Flexibility in the timetabling will make it easier for me to participate in residential programs.
SWOT Analysis
My SWOT analysis of the PDP is as follows.
Personal Planning and Action Plan
This personal development plan (PDP) has three sets of goals. The first set is PDP opportunities open to me through the curriculum. The second one is the PDP goals open to me through program staff and support services, while the third set is the goals open to me from other general areas.
Table 1: Opportunities open through the curriculum.
Table 2: PDP opportunities provided by program staff and support services.
Table 3: Action plan.
Teamwork and Presentation Skills
Teamwork refers to the process in which several individuals come together to accomplish a common goal (Forsyth 2009). One of the two important theories in teamwork includes the five-stage group dynamics model developed by Tuckman (Holmes 2005). Tuckman proposed that every team goes through four stages namely, forming, storming, norming, and performing (Forsyth 2009). The forming stage of a group covers all activities that initiate the life of a team. Group formation is not always deliberate. However, effective participation in a group stems from a deliberate effort on the part of team members. During the storming stage, group members go through an identity crisis where they try to identify their roles in the groups (Kaplan & Norton 1996).
During the forming stage, the group members usually take on specific functional roles. However, during the storming stage, other factors such as personality differences come into play. After all the members fully understand their roles and their responsibilities, the group progresses to the norming stage (Forsyth 2009). It is an equilibrium-of-sorts characterized by clear professional and personal boundaries. It gives way to the performing stage. The performing stage is the actual execution of the group’s mandate. The time it takes a group to reach the performing stage depends on the mandate of a given group and the duration the team members will spend together. Short-lived group activities tend to promote faster cycles.
Another theory that deals with group dynamics is the Meredith Belbin model model that identifies roles that team members need to play for a team to have coherence. The model presents roles, and not personality typologies (Cantore & Passmore 2012). In this sense, people choose which roles to play according to their personality types. The first role is that of an “implementer” (Cantore & Passmore 2012, p. 110). An implementer turns ideas into reality using disciplined approaches. Implementers tend to be rigid. The second role needed in a team is one of a “finisher”, who focuses on the completion of the task (Cantore & Passmore 2012, p. 110). Finishers can be anxious and usually find it difficult to delegate because of the fear that someone else cannot do what they should. Third team role according to Belbin is the coordinator’s role. Coordinators come across as natural leaders because they support and encourage other team members (Cantore & Passmore 2012). However, coordinators can also be manipulative. Fourth, a team needs a “team worker”, who is someone good at negotiating within and outside the team (Cantore & Passmore 2012, p. 110). Team workers help the work process along but can show indecisiveness.
The other roles needed for a balanced team includes a “resource instigator”, “a plant”, “an evaluator”, and “a specialist” (Cantore & Passmore 2012, p. 110). A resource instigator displays a high level of innovation and initiative when it comes to accessing resources for use by the team. However, this calls for a highly optimistic disposition, which can lead to unrealistic targets arising from planning based on resources not in the team’s control. A plant is someone keen to explore new ideas and to develop them. Such a role requires a broody person who can work on an idea until it is mature for application. However, people who fill this role well tend to be poor communicators. Finally, the team needs a specialist who can focus on specific technical aspects of the task. Specialists tend to lose the big picture quickly. A team member can play any number of roles specified by the model.
The main conclusions from this review are that every team will pass through a number of stages before it becomes effective. As this happens, the team also needs to take into account the roles that the team members play. If some of the roles in the Meredith Bilbin model remain open, then the team will lack vital components of success.
Conclusions and Reflection
The process of developing personal goals is important because of allows for reflection of the current state of affairs in line with future aspirations (Johns 2009). Based on the reviews carried out in the sections above, I have developed five main PDP goals. These goals include academic goals, professional development goals, and social goals. These goals will help me in participating effectively as a student in a new culture. At the same time, I will grow as a professional, ready to reengage with the industry based on the experiences garnered in my time as a student.
The process has made it easy for me to identify these goals in a systematic and balanced way. I believe that at the end of my student experience, I will have gone through a very enriching experience in the institution. A number of minor goals also showed up in the process of developing the main areas of focus. These goals such as seeking opportunities to lead discussion groups will be easier to meet since group work is an essential part of the learning process in the institution. It will take a commitment to meet all these goals. Setting them is only the first step in a long journey.
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