Academic Skills & PDP: Constructing a Personal Development Plan

This essay discusses the importance of academic skills and personal development planning. It covers the concept of personal and professional development, highlighting the value of short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals, providing personal examples for each. The essay also emphasizes the significance of a Personal Development Plan (PDP), outlining its value in clarifying personal vision, enhancing existing skills, and driving motivation. A personal example of a PDP is constructed, demonstrating how to improve communication and time management skills, and transferable skills for career advancement. The conclusion reinforces the importance of these concepts for overall personality and career development.

Academic Skills and
PDP

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Concept of personal and professional development...............................................................1
Describe and discuss the value of short-term goals................................................................1
Personal examples of short-term goals...................................................................................2
Describe and discuss the value of medium-term goals..........................................................2
Personal examples of medium-term goals..............................................................................3
Describe and discuss the value of long-term goals................................................................3
Personal examples of long-term goals....................................................................................4
Describe and discuss the value of a Personal Development Plan..........................................4
Construct an example using personal identified goals...........................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
References:.......................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Academic skills can be defined as the abilities and talents of students which makes the
habit of learning and research along with the report writing and presentations. All such includes
the capabilities of analysis and communication along with the social planning and studying
which is followed by the test taking and technical skills. These are the basics of academic skills
((Blankvoort, Kaelin, Poerbodipoero and Guidetti, 2019). Therefore, the following discussions
are based on the concept of personal and professional development, description of short term
goals and medium term goals along with the long term goals. Their values are also discussed
along with the personal examples. Discussion are also made on the description of personal
development plan along with the values of it with the personal goals example and proper
findings and conclusion.
MAIN BODY
Concept of personal and professional development
Personal development can be defined as the growth of an individual in its basic abilities
such as values and behaviour of a person which describes the personality and attitude of it. It
basically gives meaning to the person's life. It is considered as the life long process which aids
the person to attain their goals in order to up skill and fulfil their potential in terms of self
improvement skills which means that these are such traits or qualities that a person already
gained via education or some training sessions. Professional development can be defined as the
growth of an individual in its organizational abilities such as transferable skills of a person which
describes the talent and interest of it. It basically refers to the mentors who are responsible to
develop the skills of their students in order to grow and develop the future and career of them.
Such approaches includes the case studies and consultation along with the coaching and
technical assistance. It is considered as the life making process to make the life as a standard one
(Bozkuş and Bayrak, 2019).
Describe and discuss the value of short-term goals
Short terms goals can be defined as the targets which are to be accomplished in a near
future. Such as it can be today or a week or a month or even a year. It is something a person
wants to attain as soon as possible with short time duration of their lifetime. These are necessary
to achieve because they have values such as an individual can have a greater focus on the goals
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they have set because of the low time duration it is easy to achieve. It helps the person to build
self confidence because they can attain on their setted time frame without any complications.
Person can easily mange their time of goals ad objectives and even can accomplish within or at
the deadline without any problems. Short term goals provides the measurable progress to a
person because it is not complex in nature so therefore progress can be measurable easily.
Moreover, an individual also builds motivation and momentum along with the overcoming
procrastination. Basically such goals contribute in the life goals of the person (Caena and
Vuorikari, 2021).
Personal examples of short-term goals
There are some examples of short term goals which includes the preparation by an
individual to plan in order to study abroad for the post graduation degree in the domain where I
can have a proper interest in which I have to make my career in so that furnishing of skills and
abilities can help me in pursuing the degree with good abilities and organizational skills which
require the transferable capabilities. Another example is to focus on the thesis paper which I
want to publish by making the in depth research on the topics within a year which means I have a
interest on performing research on different topics which increases my knowledge and research
skills as well along with the presentation skills with good quality content and writing skills as
well. Another example is to take the experience on my field job as a part time so that practical
knowledge could be gained by me, this can help me in not only learning but also earning some
amount as stipend which can motivate me to enhance my skills more for better future in a
particular domain (Thomas, 2021).
Describe and discuss the value of medium-term goals
Medium term goals can be defined as the targets which requires a bit longer time to
accomplish. Such as it can be within next two weeks or a month or can be six months to several
years as well. It takes more time duration to attain in which it is important for a person to have
patience of some in order to achieve the medium term goals. These are necessary to achieve
because they have values such as it provides enough time to make progress in which most of the
values are similar to the priorities of a person which means a person can take their proper time to
achieve their goals so that it can be completed in a more effective and efficient manner.
Moreover, such goals helps in attaining in achieving the long term goals which mean it supports
the objectives of long term goals so that it can make the career progression more valuable.
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Furthermore, it aids the person in having the way to success path in their professional
development which ultimately assist in final tour of the career path (Samoylenko, 2020).
Personal examples of medium-term goals
There are some examples of medium term goals which includes the completion of
masters degree in the next two years in the interested domain in which I have to pursue my
career in so that I can have a well settled job or entrepreneurship in my career goals and
objectives. Another goal is to pay the educational loan in the next three years which means that I
have taken the loan to study masters degree abroad so therefore, it is my goal to earn more and
more so that I can repay educational loan as soon as possible. Another goals is to focus on the
geteting of the job in a reputed organization with good pay and reputed job profile. This is the
most important goals because the pay and organization type will decide my future decisions
along of the repayment of educational loan as well. It will make my life in a good going way
where I can polish my skills and can get promoted to my desired job profile, organization and
pay and this way my medium terms goals can be accomplished within a time frame (King, Ní
Bhroin and Prunty, 2018).
Describe and discuss the value of long-term goals
Long term goals can be defined as the targets which are to be accomplished in a future
without having any proper time frame but required to achieve in the form of improvement in
order to make the future and life valuable. Such goals require more time and planning than
medium and short term goals which includes strategies as well. These goals cannot be attained
within a week or a year but it takes more than several years to attain. These are necessary to
achieve because they have values such as it provides clarity of what the person wants or desires
in life so that they can focus on it with good concentration in order to achieve in an efficient
manner and this renders a sense of empowerment among individuals to set and attain the long
term goals. Moreover, such goals are essential to set and plan because it furnishes the self
improvement or self enhancement skills so that a person can achieve a desired position in life in
one owns career and that is why long term goals have values (Gottlieb, Egan, Krzyzaniak and
Chan, 2020).
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Personal examples of long-term goals
There are some examples of long term goals which includes the securing high profile
position in a top reputed organization such a manager or a member of board of directors with
good experience and knowledge which should not only for me but also I can help others in
attaining their goals in terms of counselling. It also includes the proper safety and security of job
in the company with good professionalism and working culture or environment where I must not
only have to focus on my personal goals but also the organizational goals as well which includes
self esteem and actualization needs in motivation level. Another goal is to gain some relevant
experience from different organizations and start my own business by using all knowledge
gained from my organizations and experience attained. This will help me in promotion of myself
from manager to the leadership profile where I can lead in my own business and workers will
work under me. Another goal is to buy my own assets which includes the proper location and
infrastructure for my own business and also buying my own house so that I can have my own
vision and mission in my life and looking at myself while accomplishing all the goals which
were setted at the time of short term and medium term along with the long term goals
(Polukhina, 2018).
Describe and discuss the value of a Personal Development Plan
Personal development plan can be defined as the process of formulating an action plan
which are based on the values and reflection along with the awareness and goal setting which is
followed by the planning for the growth and development personally in regard of career and
education along with the relationship and self improvement plan. It is basically a requirement for
an employee curriculum vitae. It has mainly three aspects on which such development is based
on such as spiritual, physical and mental. Value of personal development plan are such that it
provides a person with a sense of clarity in their personal vision. It furnishes the existing or
current skills, it renders the talent of a person a scope to shine, enhances efficiency and
effectiveness in business, drives motivation and satisfaction and moreover it assist a person in
achieving their different goals and objectives in the form of short term goals, medium term goals
and long term goals (Durrani and Swar, 2021).
Construct an example using personal identified goals
Goal Actions required Time frame
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Wants to improve my
communication skills so I can
be able to attain my masters
degree from abroad within a
time frame decided
Practising verbal as well as
written communication skills on
a daily basis
Six Months
Wants to improve my
management skills so I can be
able to attain my goal of part
time job within a time frame
decided
This can be attained by time
management and scheduling the
daily tasks
One year
Wants to improve my
transferable skills so I can be
able to attain my goal of
becoming a manager in a well
reputed organization within a
time frame decided
Pursuing some courses for
management in order to gain
such organizational skills
(Cordingley and Hughes, 2020).
Two years
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that academic skills and personal development plan is an important
concept to learn and study so that its application can be applied in real time growth of a person.
Because it not only supports in personal or professional development but also helps in overall
personality development of an individual. Therefore, it is important to analyst the concept of
personal and professional development and it is essential to examine the concept of short and
medium along with the long term goals. It is necessary to determine the value and personal
examples of all the three types of goals discussed and it is significant to gain the knowledge
about personal development plan with a personal example and identified goals. Hence, this
report covers all such areas in order to better understand the conceptualization of academic skills
and personal development plan.
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References:
Books and Journals
Blankvoort, N., Kaelin, V.C., Poerbodipoero, S. and Guidetti, S., 2019. Higher education
students’ experiences of a short-term international programme: Exploring cultural
competency and professional development. Educational Research. 61(3). pp.356-370.
Bozkuş, K. and Bayrak, C., 2019. The Application of Dynamic Teacher Professional
Development Approach Through Experimental Action Research. International Electronic
Journal of Elementary Education. 11(4). pp.335-352.
Caena, F. and Vuorikari, R., 2021. Teacher learning and innovative professional development
through the lens of the Personal, Social and Learning to Learn European key
competence. European Journal of Teacher Education, pp.1-20.
Cordingley, P. and Hughes, E., 2020. Leading professional development that works for pupils
and teachers. In Reimagining Professional Development in Schools (pp. 23-34). Routledge.
Durrani, R. and Swar, F.A.N., 2021. Mentoring for Professional Development: Experiences of
University Faculty.
Gottlieb, M., Egan, D.J., Krzyzaniak, S.M. and Chan, T., 2020. Rethinking the approach to
continuing professional development conferences in the era of COVID-19. Journal of
Continuing Education in the Health Professions. 40(3). pp.187-191.
King, F., Ní Bhroin, O. and Prunty, A., 2018. Professional learning and the individual education
plan process: implications for teacher educators. Professional development in
education. 44(5). pp.607-621.
Polukhina, M., 2018. Features of the value-motivational component of the individual
professional development crisis in early adulthood. Fundamental and applied researches
in practice of leading scientific schools. 25(1). pp.108-113.
Samoylenko, N.B., 2020. Teachers’ Online Professional Development: Experiences, Current
Opportunities.
Thomas, J., 2021. Understanding and Supporting Professional Carers. Routledge.
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