Personal Development Portfolio 1

Personal Development Portfolio

Student name

Institution

Course

Professor

Date of submission
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Personal Development Portfolio

Introduction

Personal development portfolio, which is also known as personal development plan, is

an important framework for a person to create an action plan for future. It incorporates a

statement of one’s education, strengths or competencies and weaknesses, aspirations,

training, and steps that illustrates the strategy of ascertaining the plan. Generating a plan

requires an individual to conduct a reflection, awareness, objective-setting and conducting a

synopsis for personal development. Self-improvement entails learning from experience and

accelerating to accomplish certain optimum outcomes and objectives (Chetcuti, Buhagiar and

Cardona, 2011, 72). Alternatively, personal development plan also entails evaluating a

person’s lifestyle and career priorities, exploration of opportunities, career positioning,

identification of risks and generation of an alternative plan that is suitable for achieving

desired goals and objectives. It is a process that enables an individual to reflect and construct

a plan for personal, academic, and career development.

Personal development portfolio is beneficial to a person in various ways. Firstly, it

enhances an individual’s self-awareness (Head and Johnston, 2012, 856). Secondly, it helps

an individual to realize gained skill and expertise, and also enables a person to identify gaps

that he or she needs to achieve. Thirdly, it helps in developing a reliable and appropriate plan

that can improve the skills and expertise of the individual. It enables people to design their

academics and desired career path.

Critical incidents

Critical incident 1 – Timing of lesson

My first critical incidence took place during my first lectures as a student in the

college. I prepared myself adequately for a lesson, which did not actually take place. The

lecturer did not come for the classes and he did not communicate his absence. Behavior of

lecturers also created very positive feelings. At the college, most lecturers were friendly and

readily available to assist students in understanding various critical concepts. The lecturers’

understanding was also more positive as compared to my junior education experience. The

tutors provided help any time I needed them.

What I have learnt

I learnt a series of lessons from these incidences. First, I realized that the class

structure and timing did not have to be exactly the way the lecturers write them on the

timetable. I realized that flexibility is important in planning. The plan was highly flawed. I

learnt that it was important to go with the flow and focus more on personal learning without

reacting to the behavior of the lecturers. Relying on the plan may affect an individual’s

personal development and organizational culture. I further learnt that other factors affected

the timing of the lesson and, therefore, it was necessary to adjust, adapt and react to the

problem as they emerge.

Critical incident 2 – The module required too much pronunciation

I encountered my second critical incident during my presentation as a new student in

the college. I was unable to pronounce various English words well.

During my study, I spent a better part of the day trying to spell out and master

segmental and supra-segmental phonology. The module comprised of a wide range of topics

that required presentations. Having known that I had deeply understood the concepts of

phonology, I chose a phonology topic for my presentation. I left all the other interesting

because I believed in myself. I felt that my knowledge of phonology was concrete because I

had spent more than two years pursuing the course. We had previously covered phonology in

the language awareness module in our previous courses. I was confident that it was the most

appropriate topic for my presentation. My sheer enthusiasm for the topic contributed to my

designing of a PowerPoint presentation with more than fifty slides. I had a whole plethora of

content to choose from when drafting the presentation. When I entered the presentation

room, the supervisors reiterated that I had only 20 minutes to make the presentation. I

developed worry on how I would complete those many slides within such a short time. I

thought I would have about 40 minutes to make the presentation. I panicked because I knew I

would make the presentation well in at least 30 minutes.

Consequence

As a result of the time limit, I began to frantically flick through my presentation and

deleted all the slides, which I considered unnecessary. The deletion affected my presentation

greatly as it altered the order of my slides. The order of the slides became unfamiliar and I

ended up throwing myself off halfway the class presentation. I froze up momentarily during

the presentation and lost my train of though. However, I picked myself up and proceeded

with the presentation successfully to completion. I felt the disappointment having spent a lot

of time preparing the presentation. The content of the slides changed and I had to do away

with a lot of good stuff. I did not have a chance to talk about the entire content due to time

limit.
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What I learnt

The experience changed my view of doing things. First, I learnt that I would have

involved another person in preparing and carrying out the presentation. Involving another

student would have spread the workload and would have made the task a lot easier. It

enhanced my perception of teamwork in promoting efficient completion of tasks. If I had

collaborated with another student, it would have been easy to share different ideas and

approaches. The collaboration would have also been helpful in gauging that a presentation

should take 20 minutes. Second, the experience taught me that planning is critical for the

successful execution of a project. I presumed that I failed in the project because I did not plan

well. In other words, if I had spent some time to practice my presentation, I would deliver my

presentation efficiently. I relied too much on content formation other than structuring.

Appropriate structuring makes a presentation to be natural and professional. If I can utilize

this for my delivery of lessons, then it would stand me in good stead.

Critical incident 3 – The college finance department requiring clearance of tuition

before attending classes

My third critical incidence was my visit to the college’s finance department when I

could not pay my tuition fees.

In my second year of studies at the college, I ran into a great financial challenge. My

parents could not pay for my tuition fees because they all lost their jobs and I was studying in

a foreign country. When I realized that I was unable to pay the tuition fees in time, I

approached the finance team to narrate my case with a belief that they would allow me to

attend classes and pay tuition fees before I do the final exams for the course. My conversation

with the head of the finance department was not a good one. He did not give a listening ear to

my explanation. He listened for about five minutes as he filed some documents and arranged
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them in a cabinet. He kept mentioning that he had a meeting to attend. I felt that he was

interested in listening to my case. In fact, he switched off after about five minutes and

proceeded to address the next student.

Consequence

The college’s finance department made me to develop some negative feelings. I felt

that the department was very unfriendly and could not listen to students who were unable to

pay college fees in time. The controller of college bursaries did not consider needy students.

The bursaries were awarded on the basis of time of application. It became difficult to start a

conversation with them when knowing that they would not consider my ideas in their

decision-making. I felt that the college only cares about money not about student. I could not

attend lectures because I had not paid tuition fees. I felt wretched and vulnerable.

What I have learnt

From this critical incident, I learnt that not everyone could meet my expectations. I

learnt to appreciate the way people handle one another and the need to adhere to the set

standards and operational. As much as I was disappointed in the whole process, I realized that

the person could not act beyond the college’s guidelines on tuition. The college had an

organizational culture that required all students to pay all their tuition fees before they attend

the lectures. I also learnt that understanding the dynamism at workplaces is important in

appreciating how systems work. With established systems, I learnt that it is difficult to make

adjustments within a short system. I further noted that scheduling is critical in organizational

forecast and future planning.

Critical incident 4 – Undertaking a survey with unwilling participants

My fourth critical incident entailed carrying a survey for my college internship with

respondents who did not show any interest in answering a series of questions.

During my internship, I was required to undertake an internship. The internship

entailed fieldwork, whereby I was to interview 20 teenagers on various education aspects. I

thought it was a good idea to meet the participants in the streets and seek their consent to

participate in the study. However, most of the local residents were hesitant to participate in

the process. The experience changed my thought of every research being a valuable

experience that the teenagers would willingly participate in. It turned out differently. It

interfered with my motivation and excitement of going out and starting to interact with the

general public in the new environment.

What I have learnt

The experience taught me that though authentic tasks may look valuable, they may

emerge hectic when they depend on other people for completion. I heavily relied on the

participants to complete the task appropriately. However, it did not turn out as I expected

because they were not willing to participate in the study. The initially authentic task turned

out unsuccessful because of the influence of other people. It shaped my perception on

completing an authentic task if it requires the input of another person. Failure to choose an

appropriate person may hinder completing the task as desired.

Critical incident 5 – Working with employees from different parts of the world

My fifth critical incident entailed working with other people of diverse cultures. My

learning experience was majorly positive. First, the interaction with students from diverse

backgrounds changed my view of organizational culture and management. The opportunity to

work with different groups was a great source of motivation and commitment. It also
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deepened my understanding of my culture and to appreciate other diverse cultures. I learnt

that integration of different cultures in a team could produce great results.

As I enrolled for studies at the college, I feared speaking in public. I did know how to

speak in English well. I did want to give it a try. After interacting with students with different

backgrounds, I realized that most them were not native English speakers. We learnt together

and this boosted my self-esteem. It also built my public speaking skills and critical thinking.

Consistent class presentations and group discussions were critical in overcoming the problem.

Interestingly, most lecturers did not observe the study timetables. They could cancel classes

frequently and sometimes fail to attend classes without notice. They would also plan for

make-up classes without consulting the students. It became difficult to attend recovery

classes. These changes contributed to my failure in some exams.

Self-awareness, strengths and weaknesses

The critical incidences served as a perfect self-awareness platform. I developed a

deeper understanding of my personality including strengths, thoughts, beliefs, emotions and

motivation. It also enabled me to learn people and their perception about people. According

to Silvia and Phillips (2013, 116), critical incidences help an individual to understand and

recognize how his or her emotions may affect own interactions, especially emotional state.

An individual can only maximize his or her strengths and diminish weaknesses. Moreover,

these critical incidences assist an individual to understand personality traits and preference.

Experiences of the critical incidences helped me realize major strengths such as

academic performance, work experience, time management, team worker, and technology

conversant. Regardless of the lecturers’ unpredictable timetables, I achieved great academic

results. During my internship as a field officer, I managed to gather significant practical

experience and deeper insights in working with people. I frequently maintained accurate time
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management both in college and at work. I would also help team members with knowledge

and expertise, which helped in achieving organizational goals.

The experiences also revealed certain weaknesses such as lack of professional

experience, impatience, and lack of knowledge management. At work, I was a fresh graduate

with little knowledge on my work. I was also impatient in most incidences both at the college

and workplace. Knowledge management is an important component in learning and work

(Gholami and Biria 2014, 7). However, I only focused on a single line of study and work. I

failed to diversify. Upon identifying and understanding these weaknesses, it became easy for

me to design an effective action plan that would be helpful in attaining the best qualities in

future learning and obligations.

Reflection of learning experiences and action plan

I used Graham Gibbs’s Reflective Cycle to reflect on my previous learning. The tool,

developed in 1988, comprises of six stages that help a person learn from past experiences. It

makes an individual to develop positivity and enhance his or her personal life and career path

(Chetcuti, Buhagiar and Cardona, 2011, 65). The reflective statement majorly concentrates

on the period of September 2018 as I studied Diploma in Business Management at the

university in the United States. I graduated in 2019. During this period, I had different

experiences. Some of these experiences were positive whereas others were negative. Most of

these experiences I experienced during my last years of study. Towards the end of my

studies, I faced so many challenges and difficulties. One of the challenges was insufficient

financial support. I had to balance between working at a nearby restaurant in the night and

attending lectures during the day. I had to forgo sleep to fund my education. However, the

challenges strengthened my survival spirit and inspired me to put more effort for a better

future. The challenges acted as my motivation factor for enrolling at a degree program.
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My learning experience resulted in both positive and negative feelings. My positive

feeling is that it motivated me to pursue academics further by enrolling for a degree program.

As Trevitt, Stocks and Quinlan (2012, 163) outlined, it helped me to enhance my skills and

expertise to develop specialized knowledge in various business management components

such as business analysis, performance management, corporate governance, financial

management, and leadership. Previous learning experience in the United States resulted in an

array of positive benefits, which enhanced my personal and academic life. I developed

various skills and expertise to face the imminent challenges. Moreover, my period in college

advanced my view of various cultural backgrounds as I interacted and worked with people

from diverse backgrounds. I was able to learn about different cultures, which shaped my

problem-solving skills and innovation skills. It also advanced my reasoning. I also

strengthened my communication skills and teamwork through participation in class

presentations and group discussions.

Conclusion

Personal portfolio development plays an important role in developing personal life

and career. It enhances the view of person towards a series of components in the working

environment. The critical incidences portrayed some of the issues that require a deep

understanding of various relationship components. It also redesigns the thinking of person to

embrace diversity. Diverse reasoning enables a person to understand various dynamics.

Through the critical incidences, it was easy to determine my strengths and weaknesses in

different contexts. It provided a platform to understanding my reaction to various issues that

affect the working environment. In the absence of these scenarios, it would have been

difficult to think widely on the impending issues that affect working relationships. It also

enhanced embracing organizational cultures and appreciates existing systems. It further

created dimensional way of analyzing every situation and trying to revamp from it. The

strategy enables an individual to design an action plan for effective output.

List of References

Chetcuti, D., Buhagiar, M.A. and Cardona, A., 2011. The professional development portfolio:

Learning through reflection in the first year of teaching. Reflective practice, 12(1),

pp.61-72.

Gholami, H. and Biria, R., 2014. Reflective journal writing and learner autonomy. Journal of

Language and Literature, pp.5-13.

Head, K.S. and Johnston, J.H., 2012. Evaluation of the personal development portfolio in

higher education: An explorative study. Nurse education today, 32(8), pp.857-861.

Silvia, P.J. and Phillips, A.G., 2013. Self-awareness without awareness? Implicit self-focused

attention and behavioral self-regulation. Self and Identity, 12(2), pp.114-127.

Trevitt, C., Stocks, C. and Quinlan, K.M., 2012. Advancing assessment practice in continuing

professional learning: Toward a richer understanding of teaching portfolios for

learning and assessment. International Journal for Academic Development, 17(2),

pp.163-175.