Reflection and Professional Development as an Essential Component of Learning - Essay Example

Running Head: Reflection and professional development   Your name   Course name             Professors’ name Date Introduction As a student, learning journal is a sensible idea that will enable me to record the learning experiences that I have had in the early stages at this institution. I have learned, my experiences in learning will play a host to a large number of experiences as the student settles into the way of an employment, also the student is able to gain some practical skills which cannot be acquired without hands-on experiences that are gained through learning journal. I have also learned, learning journal is appropriated to my current situation, because learning experience occurs at all stages at this institution but sometimes are less apparent. I have realized, the difficult part for a student is to recognize an experience and put such experience into practical. Analysis of learning Students usually learn better when they can see relevance as to why they are following a learning program of study (Hainer, 1968). When a institution conducts learning analysis with students, learning analysis will identify programs the students need; this include schedules, course content, etc.. and these programs should be in line with the needs of the student, and this is through assisting the students to identify in his own learning. As a student undertaking the Personal and Professional Development module, I learned the following: Personal development; as a student undertaking Personal and Professional Development module, according to my understand of personal development; it can be referred to as, any process which aids and reinforces learning in a student and personal development can be fully be in sympathy with values that are found in learning. Personal development usually is made up of activities which encourage personal aspirations and reflection, personal development will take place in a mind of a student, this will involve a range of activities; from in discussion with fellow students and teachers, tutorial, how a student can improve his/her grades, and through assignments. Personal development in a student is all about involvement, engagement and motivation (Bovée, 2003). According to the module, personal development has been designed to promote student’s awareness and articulation in learning, increase the ability of a student to clarify goals and to be involved in their own learning. I also realised personal development attribute is essential in professional development, success in career management, lifelong learning, and this processes in a student will make a contribution towards his/her employability. Personal development will help a student: to recognise his/her own strengths and weaknesses, plan their own personal and academic development (Willes, 1999), student will be able to review his/her progress, student will be able to be prepared in looking for employment; by bring out skills which are needed by potential employers (Bovée, 2003). I have also realised student reflection is an essential component of learning and it represent learning. In reflection, a student will try to understand the various materials they encounter and try to relate materials those materials to what they already know. Sometimes a student can modify the things he/she already know with new materials- deep approach (Bovée, 2003), this attributes will also be involved in representing learning. For example, a student may understand is being tested in format that demands thinking or reprocessing of ideas. I also learn reflection provide right conditions for student learning, for example, when a student is reflective mood its slow down learning; a student requires time to reprocess ideas, it helps a student to have a feel they own their knowledge, when a student reflect on complicated materials its challenges the student, the student will gain greater abilities in dealing with materials which need hard thinking. I learned from the module, when a student develop self awareness it will transform his entire life; it’s enable and empower the student to become conscious and purposeful creator of events or conditions and circumstances that make up the student life. I also learn, unless and until a student develop self awareness on the need to change his/her belief, and try to release the emotions that are attached to the student beliefs, the student will continue to attract into his/her life and experience the same circumstances or conditions in his/her life that reinforce and bring into student life the same circumstances or conditions that the student is experiencing, and these experiences or conditions will be based on previously established self limiting beliefs. When a student develops a sense of self awareness, a student will be able to discover his/her true power and he/she will start discovering the real truth concerning his/her unlimited ability to attract and experience the things that the student desire in his/her life, despite the condition or circumstances (Hainer, 1968). In the module reading, I have learn a student will be competent in social perception when the following three domains are included: one, when the student knows that other people have belief, thoughts, emotions, desires, intentions, and the like. Two, when a student is able to read other people mind based on their behaviour, conversation, and facial expression. Lastly, when a student is able to adjust his/her actions based on readings of other people. A student can make note of other people tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, words, postures, and from these clues, a student can make judgement about self being of a person, intentions and emotions. Therefore, a student will be able to make good decision on how to behave. I also learned, apart from perception, students must have knowledge of social rules, scripts, roles in their lives, and they should be prepared to use their knowledge in their acting and decision making. I have learn student personality will include his/her thoughts, feelings, behavioural patterns a student, also, I have learn different people will have different personality and when a student will understand an individual personality, it will give him/her clue on how that person is likely to act in a variety of situations. In order for a student to be effective in what he/she is doing he/she must understand other people’s personality. I have also realised, personality in a student will shape ‘who we are’ in life and it has a long lasting consequences on a student life (Eisner, 1998). For a student, reflective learning is a useful process when a student is working with materials which are in unstructured manner or those strategies or ideas that are very alone. I have learn, reflective writing in a student will develop critical thinking skills in a student, because relative writing has a reflective dimensions. As a student, I have realised the purpose of reflective writing in a student is to help the student develop deep thinking in which the student will make personal connection in what he/she is learning, and also a student is suppose to think creatively and critically through these connections in a way a student will be able to transfer knowledge to the things he/she will do in the near future (Eisner, 1998). I have realised Interpersonal interaction in a student is important, it will help the student to be confidence and assertive in what he/she is doing, student will be able to develop effectively his/her listening and communication skills, the student will be able to handle his/her emotions and where there is conflict, the student will be in a position to solve them effectively in a persuasive manner. For a student, team building and development is very important; some of the reasons that underlie the importance of team building are that it is an important tool for ensuring good management, it reduces stress among team members because it opens up networks for sharing the workloads of the team evenly, it has the potential to enhance team performance due to the fact that more creative and innovative ideas are created through team building and it increases the capability of teams to solve multi/ interdisciplinary and interpersonal problems in an increasingly effective manner than it would be possible in groups or individuals. I have learned student leadership is important, when a student has leadership skills, the student will be an inspiration to other students. I have also learn it will take amount of effort for a student to released leadership in a student is more than just winning a popularity contest, and it is the work of a student leader to help their fellow colleagues to learn achieve their goals in life. Competence Development Communication can be said to be the process in which an idea is passed from one person to another, the purpose of communication is to make the other person receiving information to understand what is in the mind of the sender or the original of the information. There are different forms in which information can be passed, such forms are: the spoken and written word, figures, visual images, facial expressions or gestures. Everyday a student will spend most of time in communicating to his/her fellow students or his/her lecturer in an institution (Taliaferro, 1976). Therefore, it is very vital for effective communication in the institution; processes such as: planning, organizing, directing and controlling are accomplished in the organization through good communications. A student having good communication skills in the organization, it will reduce conflict and also prevent unnecessary misunderstanding. In an organization setup where a student will aspire to work in; some people would argue that lack of communication skills in an employee, is the source of all conflicts within the organization; therefore, it is not enough for an employee to have good communication skills but he/she must know the process of communications that has been set up in the organization. A manager having good communication skills will help him with full range of employees a manager comes into contact with. A manager being able to communicate instructions and ideas to his/her subordinate is important in any organization; while in return listening to them is the backbone of a good manager. When a manager does not have good communication skills, communication in the organization will break down on all levels; misunderstandings will occur and mistakes will be made in the organization. When a manager possesses good communication skills, it will allow subordinate staff to develop a high level of trust in their manager; this is important in any organization since the staff will be able to communicate ideas and issues that will benefit the organization and at same time it will strengthen the manager’s position. In 1980, Scudder proposed communication theory, according to Scudder; all living things that are existing in the universe communicate to each other, and how living things communicate to each other is different. According to Scudder, plants will communicate for their need to be taken care of and watered as a result of their change in color of their leaves, also by shading off their leaves or flowers (Teale, 2003). Animals will communicate through sounds and movements to indicate they need food or need attentions, while, a mother will never understand her child is hungry unless the child starts crying. Communication in an organization can be examined through the following viewpoints: mechanistic- simple means communication involves transmission of information from one person to another: psychological- communication is not simply sending information from a sender to a receiver, but actually it’s the thoughts and feeling of the person sending that information is what counts, it’s also includes; receiver reactions and feelings after he decodes the information he/she has received: Social- communication is directly dependent on the content of the speech, also its is the basis of the social view point: critical- communication is a way in which a manager can express his power and authority over his/her subordinates. When a student has good communication skills, the student will be able to influence his fellow students and other people- lecturer in the institution. For a student to have influencing skills, he/she must understand himself/herself and the effect or the impact you will have on your staffs; influence sometimes may be one way, but the primary relationship should be two way, and should be about changing how others sees you in the organization. The ability of a student to influence can make a difference in his/her personal growth, potential for expansion and profitability of the institution/ organization (Hiatt, 2002). In the work place a student with influencing skills will help the organization to solve functional issues with customers and suppliers of the organization. A employee should have the ability to recognize distinct behavioral components of a person to effectively convince the person into his/her idea of the organization. The job of a employee is to influence clients about all of the time. Influence may take different form of gaining support, persuading other people to buy into your idea or simply inspiring others in the organization. The good thing about a manager with influence is that other employees would like to be around them, these managers are kind of exciting buzz or they can sense thing that is about to happen. Influential managers they don’t just sit around wishing things were different in the organization while moaning or blaming others or complaining about what needs to fixed that will make things better in the organization; this kind of a manager will see the need of doing things and set about getting things done in the organization. For a manager it’s about adapting and modifying his/her personal styles, when he/she realized that the effect you have on your staff, while being true to himself/herself; behavior and attitude change is important for a manager, and not changing who you are or how you feel and think once you have given the responsibility of managing other staffs in the organization. A bad manager in an organization will try to exert his/her influence through coercion and manipulation, through that he may succeed in getting things done in the organization, but this is not really an influencing skill, this is because by forcing subordinate staff to do what you want against their will, you won’t succeed as a manager in winning their support in the organization. Indeed, if you force your staff to do something against his/her will without taking into consideration his/her view, a manager will left a bad impression to that staff. Staff in an organization will be more than willing to come halfway if they feel their manager is appreciating them; to your surprise, they may even agreeing to everything you tell them because they feel good about making the choice in the organization (Hiatt, 2002). According to his theory of “group dynamics”, Michael Argyle, different people tend to undergo same lifecycle of stages when they come together and interact in producing a team performance. In his theory, Michael categorized four distinct stages in the ‘life’ of a group: the first stage is forming stage; here a group come together, they discuss their ideas and objective, also they will try to reflect on their own roles in the group that they have formed. Second stage, storming stage; in this stage members of a group start to settle down, members of a group start to know each other and may compete for roles, at this stage disagreement may occur, and if disagreement are not taken care of, they tend to disrupt the whole group and its activities. The third stage, norming stage; at this stage the group begin to settle down, and the members of the group find a common approach to the task of the group that all can agree with. The last stage, performing stage; this is where the group achieve its optimum efficiency and the objectives of the group are achieved. For an influential manager in the organization, recognizing that employees often behave differently in the organization can help the manager tactically to be more effective in influencing his/her subordinate in the organization; Much of this the manager in the organization should watch and listen to employees behavior, and he/she should exercise his/her judgment about when to be assertive and intervene and when to sit back as discussions unfold and employees in the organization exchange views or come into conflict, also the manager can set a positive tone and modeling the ‘norms’ for group interaction. Conclusion Various works on reflective practices by Donald Schon have had an impact in many people lives, and institutions (Argyris & Schön, 1978). Nowadays, many institutions, teachers, and informal educators have embraced his works both in institutional experiences and in teaching content. Donald Schon works on reflective learning nowadays has become ‘canonical’- different professional field’s uses Donald Schon works. As such different professionals are encouraged to apply Shon theories of reflective learning and exemplars to their own experience and situations at the work place. According to Shon, reflective practice was to be passed, it seems Shon theory is not directed to its own situated practice of doing theory (Argyris & Schön, 1978), however, this theory has remain very suggestive and has really echoed in individual’s accounts of processes as expertise. Reflective learning in a student is to help the student develop deep thinking in which the student will make personal connection in what he/she is learning, and also a student is suppose to think creatively and critically through these connections in a way a student will be able to transfer knowledge to the things he/she will do in the near future. In reflective learning, a student will be able to discover his/her true power and he/she will start discovering the real truth concerning his/her unlimited ability to attract and experience the things that the student desire in his/her life, despite the condition or circumstance (Argyris & Schön, 1978). References Argyris, C., & Schön, D. (1978) Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective, London, Addison Wesley. Bovée, C. (2003). Business communication today. London: Prentice Hall Publisher. Hiatt, K. ( 2002). Creativity & writing skills: finding a balance in the primary classroom. London: David Fulton Publisher, Schön, D. A. (1991) The Reflective Turn: Case Studies In and On Educational Practice, New York: Teachers Press, Columbia University. Taliaferro, B. (1976). Communication skills for managers. New York: American Management Associations, Extension Institute Publisher. Teale, M. ( 2003).Management decision-making: towards an integrated approach. London: Pearson Publisher,. Willes, P. (1999). Competence: a continuum. London, MSS Educational Publisher. Read More