Reflective Journal 1: Exploring Employability Skills in the Module

This reflective journal analyzes a student's experiences within a 'Personal and Professional Development' module, utilizing Gibbs' reflective cycle to explore learning and skill development. The journal details the student's initial nervousness about giving a group presentation, the support received from the tutor and team members, and the subsequent improvement in communication and teamwork skills. The student reflects on challenges faced, particularly in time management and problem-solving, while also acknowledging the positive aspects of the module and the impact on their personal and professional growth. The journal concludes with an action plan to improve time management and problem-solving skills through prioritization and participation in group activities, emphasizing the importance of self-reflection for identifying areas of improvement and achieving future employment goals. The student highlights the importance of the module in enhancing skills and preparing for future career success.

Reflective Journal
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
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INTRODUCTION
Reflective journal is often referred as learning journal which is a steadily growing paper or
document that learner writes in order to record their learning progress. It encourages an
individual to think regarding their own learning and provide reflection on that (Naber, and
Wyatt, 2014). It is a personal record of learning experiences of an individual which he or she
gain from an event or a situation. This is a reflective report which discuss about the contribution
of module in achievement of employability as well as study skills including communication,
research, team work, time management and problem solving skills. For providing reflection on
the learning experience of module, Gibbs reflective cycle is utilised by me in order to reflect on
my own experience in an effective way.
MAIN BODY
Reflecting on own experience is referred as the process through which an individual can
grow his or her understanding regarding who they are and what are their values. It is a kind of
personal analysis which enable an individual to bring his/ her life in alignment with what they
wish it to be. Self-reflection is the way to analyse and observe oneself which provides an
opportunity to grow. By understanding oneself, it assists in determining the steps that required to
take on the journey. Reflecting on the way an individual reacts the thoughts that enter in his or
her mind in response to the situation or event around them allows to see on what they required to
work on. It helps in developing emotional self-awareness as well as also increased integrity when
individual take time in order to reflect on core values. In this report, I provide reflection on my
own experience that I get while undertaking the module. In order to perform the reflection in a
systematic and effective way, Gibbs reflective model is used by me in this reflection.
Gibbs reflective cycle was propounded by Graham Gibbs in year 1988 in order to provide
structure to the learning from experiences (Pasternak, and Rigoni, 2015). This framework helps
in examining the experiences which allow an individual to learn as well as plan from the things
that either go well or did not go well. This model consists of 6 stages. The first stage is
description in which the detail about the experience that an individual get from the event or
situation is discussed. The second stage is feelings that an individual gets from the experience.
Evaluation is the third stage in which both the experiences good and bad are evaluated. An
analysis is made in the fourth stage so as to make sense of the event. A conclusion is provided in
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the fifth stage in which the overall learning and the thing that could have done differently by the
individual is included. At last, an action plan is developing for the way an individual would deal
with same event in future or the alteration that he or she might find appropriate. All these are the
six stages of Gibbs reflective model which I used to provide reflection on my own experience
and learning from the module in a systematic way. The reflection on my own experience by
utilising this model is provided below:
I am a student studied in the module named as 'personal and professional development'.
While undertaking this module, I got many experiences which helped me in learning so many
things that further help in my personal and professional development. At the time when I started
the module, I was assigned with the task in the classroom by my tutor in which I needed to give a
presentation in group (Allan, and Driscoll, 2014). As this was new for me, and I have never
given any kind of presentation, I felt nervous and thought that how can I will do the assigned
task. In the group activity, there were three others members also with whom I needed to
complete my assignment. Although, the roles of each and every individual in the team were
divided equally, I felt nervous. Then, my teacher provided me with guidance and my other team
members also helped me which made me enable to complete the given assignment. This module
also helped in improving my different skills like communication, team work and research.
however, I faced some difficulties due to ineffective time management and problem solving
skills.
At the time of preparing presentation, I had given with the role to search content on the topic
and give presentation on that. In the presentation, the number of sides are equally divided among
all the team members and all of us are needed to present our own part in front of classmates.
Everything was ok when my teacher guided me and my colleagues helped me. But at the time of
giving presentation, I again felt nervous and lose my all confidence. When it was my turn to give
the presentation, I stuck in between while presenting my topic in front of class. Though my
communication skills were good but, still due to less confidence level, I was not able to stand
straight and confidently present my topic in front of others (Pasternak, and Rigoni, 2015). Then
again my teacher came and insisted me to continue the presentation. My group members also
encourage me and motivate me to give presentation. This improve my confidence level and their
motivation and encouragement helped me in starting the presentation again. Now then, I
completed my presentation and all of my classmates appreciated me for the efforts that I have
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done in giving the presentation. When giving presentation, initially I thought that if I was not
able to present my topic effectively in front of class, then what my classmates are think about
me. But, after finishing the presentation, my thoughts were changed and my confidence level
boosted up. After giving the presentation successfully I felt very happy and my teacher also
appreciated me.
At the time of preparing and giving presentation, the things were went well. Each group
member equally contributed to the entire task which has provided by our teacher to us (Naber,
and Wyatt, 2014). During the activity, everything went well except when I had given
presentation and stucked in between it. At that time, I was very nervous and at a time, also
decided not to continue the presentation. But after my classmates and teachers insisted me,
everything went well. I was able to give the presentation successfully and also enabled to
improve my confidence level simultaneously. My contribution in the group was to search the
content and present that effectively in front of class. I performed my role in well manner. The
contribution of other members of the group was also equal and they equally help me in
presenting the presentation successfully.
By undertaking the module, I learnt many things and this provided me an excellent
experience which I can never get before. Due to my good team working skills, I was able to work
effectively in the team. Apart from this, my oral and verbal communication skill was also good
which also highly contribute in interacting effectively within the team and perform my roles as a
team member in proper way. However, there were some difficulties which I faced due to lack of
time management and problem solving skills. Because of ineffective time management skills,
some of my work got delayed. Apart from this, lack of problem solving skills also made me
unable to resolve the issues that occurred in group in proper way. But, by the help of team
members, all the difficulties that are faced were resolved and we all work in coordination and
cooperation with each other to complete the assigned task successfully. Besides these, the
remaining things were go well and me and my team members were able to complete the assigned
task within specified period of time (Bassot, 2016).
The overall experience of undertaking the module was good. I learnt many things which
help me in my personal and professional development. The learning that I get from this module
will also help me in getting good employment in future. By reflecting on my own learning, I was
able to identify my strong areas along with the areas which I need to work upon. By reflecting, I
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found that I need to improve my time management and problem solving skills. In order to
improve time management skill, I will prioritise my work as per their significance and will
develop a proper schedule to do that work. This action will help in improving my time
management skills and enable me to effectively manage time and complete assigned work on
time. For improving my problem solving skills, I will take participation in group activities. I will
also work out to some tunes and participate in yoga in order to improve my problem solving
skills. By improving these skills, I will be able to get good employment in future and these also
helps in my personal and professional development (Ross, 2014).
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that providing reflection on own
learning is very significant for an individual as it helps in determining the areas that an individual
required to improve. Apart from this, it also provides an opportunity to develop and grow which
further help in own personal and professional development of a person.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Naber, J. and Wyatt, T.H., 2014. The effect of reflective writing interventions on the critical
thinking skills and dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students. Nurse Education
Today, 34(1), pp.67-72.
Pasternak, D.L. and Rigoni, K.K., 2015. Teaching reflective writing: thoughts on developing a
reflective writing framework to support teacher candidates. Teaching/Writing: the journal
of writing teacher education, 4(1), p.5.
Allan, E.G. and Driscoll, D.L., 2014. The three-fold benefit of reflective writing: Improving
program assessment, student learning, and faculty professional development. Assessing
Writing, 21, pp.37-55.
Bassot, B., 2016. The reflective journal. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Ross, J., 2014. Performing the reflective self: audience awareness in high-stakes
reflection. Studies in Higher Education, 39(2), pp.219-232.
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