Evaluation of personl learning Essay

An evaluation of my personal learning plan along with comments on how I plan to update my subject specialist knowledge, generic knowledge of teaching and learning, using examples from my practice and discussing the part my mentor played in my development. Introduction The aim of this assignment is to show how my key learning points from my personal learning plan have been put into practice and to evaluate these, examples from my practice will also be used. I will explain how I plan to update not only my subject specialist knowledge but also my generic knowledge of teaching and learning. I plan to also explain and discuss the part my mentor has played in my development over the two years of cert Ed qualification. Having a personal learning plan is a great way of setting out your future objective, aims and goals. Having goals to head for gives you motivation and direction and also builds on confidence and self esteem. However it is a good idea to plan your own personal learning plan, when you plan your own programme, it is more likely to be relevant to your needs and be able to be applied, and be related to, your teaching. This, then, is more likely to give you motivation for your learning (Reece & Walker 2003 pg 400). I plan to review and update my own personal learning plan every six months. However my personal learning is also discussed in my supervisions at work which I have every three months, this enables me to discuss any knowledge I myself wish to update and also any training my manager feels I would benefit from. I feel this is good support to involve my personal learning plan within my supervision, it also shows management that I am committed and taking control of my own learning. My personal learning plan consists of three main areas these are. Subject specialist development This is the subject that I teach this includes my practical and theory work. Generic teaching development This is schemes of work and lesson plans how I use differentiation and assessment, along with assignments and research etc. Skills development This is my literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. My subject specialist area has a variety of subject sessions these are induction, food hygiene awareness, health and safety, individual service planning (ISP), swallowing disorders, manual handling, infection control and first aid I do continuous refreshers on all sessions within the organisation how ever I do also carry out independent reading and research of individual subjects to keep my self updated. Especially on change that relate to any regulations that have an impact on my training sessions. There have been two key personal learning development areas in my subject specialist area the first being ISP training. This training session has had a complete overhaul to how it is to be delivered which has involved a lot of changes to the ISP itself, example how these are set up and completed. For me to deliver this training to my learners I needed to attend a two day training session myself. The sessions involved theory and practical learning giving me the knowledge and the skills to enable me to deliver a practical session to my learners. Example when doing this session my learners will not be just listening and getting involved in group discussions they will be involved in an ongoing practical, At their best, practical’s are an enjoyable and active hands on experience. At their worst they are frustrating episodes where not even the teacher knows what is supposed to be happening (Petty 2004 pg 204). So any practical should be well planned. My learners will be put into pairs one will be the service user and the other the key worker. They will then be given a number of activities to follow. Using this method they will build and complete an ISP, learners are able to swap roles through out so each learner gets to play each role. I have delivered this training session this way on many occasions now and it is working well, learners are enjoying and putting into practice what they have learnt well, this is evident when looking at ISP, s that they have completed. My second key learning point in my subject specialist area is first aid training. I was unable to deliver this session as I did not have the knowledge and qualification to do this. I  attended a two day emergency first aid course down Lincoln through NUCO training, having attended this training I now have the confidence and subject knowledge to be able to deliver this to my learners. The training consisted of two presentations showing the teacher my understanding of the subject and showing I was able to present, I was also assessed on practical exercises through out the two days, example resuscitation procedure, choking procedure, and the procedure in the event of an emergency situation example car accident. This training was very challenging and intense however it has given me the skills to develop an effective training session for my learners. I have two sessions planned to deliver in July. Having being successful in this training I am also able to go and assess other first aid trainers. I plan to update my subject specialist knowledge continuously I will do this by attending refresher training sessions. I am also a member of the Institute for learning where you have to prove you have so many hours of continuous professional development. I also plan to use E-learning within the organisation for any relevant training sessions, along with my independent learning through reading and research on the internet. My generic knowledge of teaching and learning has developed well through out my two years on cert Ed, my skills in lesson planning have developed immensely and I put these into practice on a regular basis. My delivery methods have progressed and become a lot more interactive for my learners, by bringing in differentiation and inclusive learning example hand washing exercise I use a power point slide to show a picture of hands with bacteria on, we have a discussion on hands, show learners how to wash hands correctly, we then do a hands washing exercise covering visual, audio and kinaesthetic learning styles. My assignments now have structure and flow throughout, my spelling and punctuation has also improved, this has been managed through hard work and practice of proof reading which is a skill in its self, a skill that can always be developed further through practice and gathering information from books and the internet. I plan to update my generic knowledge of teaching and learning through independent learning by using the internet and reading books, also the E-learning that the organisation encourage us to use have some useful courses on punctuation, organisation skills, planning skills, assessing and evaluation etc which I  plan to look at using in the future. I am also attending mentoring training at the end of May which I feel will be beneficial to myself and my learners. My skills development have improved over my two years in cert end, in the first year of cert ed my personal learning plan identified my need to achieve level two in both English and maths. I have now achieved both qualifications and in particular benefited greatly from the English this has helped me with my assignments, writing letters, creating handouts for my training sessions and knowing and understanding where a sentence begins and ends along with why we have and need to use punctuation. I did have the basic knowledge of English language but did require further development and knowledge. By attending key skills level two has developed this knowledge which has enabled me to progress in this area of my personal learning. However I do believe I will benefit from further development in this area and plan to progress onto key skills level three English once I have completed my cert ed year two. My ict skills have improved this is through daily use of a laptop and also attending a two day training course through the organisation. The course consisted of two modules first module was an introduction to IT & file management, this module developed my personal learning in areas such as using windows XP, explain the use of options within my computer, being aware of the principals of using my documents, be able to create, change, delete and move files and folders and identify how and when to back data up. Module two outlook & internet/intranet this module has developed my personal learning in areas such as accessing E-learning and being aware of its potential, organising and accessing personal files and to become more familiar with the intranet within the organisation and how to use it effectively. I have also had a small session on the use of power point which has been beneficial to me as within my job role, as at times I am required to put a power point presentation together. I plan to update my ict skills by attending a further two modules which will be organised through the organisation hopefully in the coming year. I also believe everyday use will enhance my skills. I also plan to do a more intense session on power point in the near future. Through my two years of cert Ed I have had a mentor. Mentoring is a  relationship between mentor and mentee that encourages growth and development in a respectful and collegial environment (Morton-Cooper & Palmer, 2000). The mentoring relationship may be an informal arrangement that happens naturally, or a formal relationship that is organised within the work organisation (Rose, 2005). My job role as training and development officer was a new post for me in 2007 and it was my manager who suggested that I enrol onto the cert Ed course rather than training and development NVQ4. She felt that I would gain more from this course and it would equip me with the knowledge and confidence to carry my duties out competently. As my manager is an experienced trainer herself it made sense for her to also be my mentor as she had faith in me from the very beginning of my training. A mentoring relationship tends to be long term that can be entered into at any stage of one’s career (Northcott , 2000). This statement has been true in my case. The relationship I have with my mentor is a good one she has been supportive through out especially when it has come to bringing in new ideas for training sessions in fact she has used some of the ideas herself. The process has always been a two way process. My mentor has not been their to tell me what to do, she has guided, encouraged, supported, provided information and most of all always listened, especially in moments when I have thought this whole thing is too much for me. Through out my observations my mentor has been encouraging and made feel at ease as she knew how nervous I was on these occasions, feed back from observations were always positive and any development points were always taken on board. My mentor has recognised some skills in me that I never realised I had along with helping me developing these skills. Example a year ago my mentor asked me if I would like to do a course that would enable me to deliver first aid training to my learners, so I would not need to sen d them out externally for this training. I explained to my mentor that I was not keen on doing this and felt that this was a course that qualified nurses should do. My mentor did not try to push or persuade me into doing this even though it would save the organisation money. I have just done this course last month and it was me who approached my manager/mentor, I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to delivering it to my learners. It is amazing what a year can do to some ones confidence and self esteem. If my manager/mentor had made me do this when she wanted me to do it I would not have developed in that area or  enjoyed it. My mentor has always allowed me to do things at my own pace and has a great understanding of how we as individuals learn at different levels and pace. I feel this is a good quality to have when being a mentor. Looking back it was a excellent suggestion from my manager/mentor for me to enrol onto the cert ed, over the two years I feel I have grown not only in confidence but in both the theory and the practical side of my teaching and learning. It has been a privilege to have had a mentor who has guided, supported, encouraged and listened through out the two year process. How ever it does not end there as she is also my manager she will be there for the future too. Conclusion For us to further ourselves I feel it is essential to have objectives, aims and goals. I feel if we do not things do not get done so our goals do not get met. We may have goals in our heads but if they are not planned they tend not to be achieved. For me a personal learning plan is the way forward we can then tick of the goals we have achieved and plan for new goals in the future. Looking back two years ago I would never have dreamt that I would have achieved what I have achieved today, I believe this has been achieved through good planning, good support and hard work by myself. Learning is an ongoing process and I look forward to many more years of teaching and learning. http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-mentoring.html retrieved 09/05/2009 Petty,G 2004, A practical guide teaching today, 3rd edn, Nelson Thornes, United Kingdom. Reece, I & Walker, S 2003, Teaching, Training and learning a practical guide, 5th edn, Business Education Publishers Limited, Great Briton. http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-mentoring.html retrieved 09/05/2009 Petty,G 2004, A practical guide teaching today, 3rd edn, Nelson Thornes, United Kingdom. Reece, I & Walker, S 2003, Teaching, Training and learning a practical guide, 5th edn, Business Education Publishers Limited, Great Briton.