Unit Shc22 Answers
2
Introduction to personal development in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
For Unit SHC22
What are you finding out?
Personal development is not just to do with education or training and the development of skills and interests. It is also about developing a better understanding of yourself, your values, beliefs and experiences, and how they impact on your behaviour. It is about appreciating what motivates you to learn so that you can achieve your full potential. Personal development is important because life without change may lead to a duller existence. The thought of change can be unwelcome – ‘I am quite comfortable as I am, thank you.’ But in order to handle new challenges, achieve a better quality of life …show more content…
or become accomplished in our work, we need to move out of our comfort zone, reflect on our experiences and … change, even if it’s just a minor adjustment. As Mark Twain said, ‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.’ Personal development is stimulating and energising. It opens doors, in our personal lives and at work. Learning does not end when we fi nish school. The reading and activities in this chapter will help you to:
■ Understand what is required for competence in your work role
Be able to agree a personal development plan
■ ■
Be able to reflect on your work practice
■ Be able to develop knowledge, skills and understanding.
required for competence in own work role Describe the duties and responsibilities of own role
Work in the health and social care sector covers many job roles. Loosely, these can be categorised into three areas: 1. 2. Ancillary – domestics, electricians, porters, etc. Administration and managerial – office staff, receptionists, senior management, (such as chief executives and owners or managers of private care providers), etc. Providers of care – nurses, teachers, care workers, midwives, social workers, nursery workers, etc. 1.1
LO1 Understand what is
Key Term
Ancillary workers in health and social care are staff who do not provide hands-on care.
There are many organisations, internet sites, professional journals, newspapers and so on, which describe job roles within health, social care, children’s and young people’s settings. Descriptions will include:
professional development and career pathways associated with job roles
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entrance requirements for each role qualifications skills personal qualities
3.
hours of work rates of pay.
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Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Possibly, you applied for your current job role because the job description caught your eye and you thought you would enjoy the duties and responsibilities involved. 1 Duties are the tasks or activities that you are paid to carry out. They are listed in your job description and contract of employment. Responsibilities are to do with the qualities that underpin the way you work, for example that you are reliable, dependable, conscientious and trustworthy; that you conduct yourself as required and demonstrate respect, consideration and maturity; that you comply with policies and procedures and Codes of Practice as relevant to the care setting. Being responsible means being accountable for your actions and being prepared to improve.
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Figure 2.1 A multitude of job roles The internet is a good starting point for exploring roles within the health and social care sectors. Websites you may fi nd interesting include: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Healthcare careers www.connexionsdirect.com/jobs4u Social care and counselling www. connexions-direct.com/jobs4u Community care www.communitycare. co.uk/jobs/search Skills for Health www.skillsforhealth.org. uk Skills for Care and Development www. skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk Directgov www.direct.gov.uk
Time to reflect
1.1
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How does your job measure up?
Think about your duties and responsibilities. 1. Are they more or less what you expected them to be? 2. Do you sometimes find the job demanding and easier said than done or, on the other hand, insufficiently interesting or challenging?
Research & investigate
1.1
Fancy a change? Evidence activity
1.1
Think about a couple of jobs in a health or care setting that you’d like to be in now, instead of your current role. Research as much information as you need in order to decide whether either of the jobs would be appropriate for you, for example, you could search the internet or visit your local connexions office or Jobcentre. 1. What do you think the key roles of each job are? 2. Are you suited for each or either role? 3. Would you enjoy either or each of them?
Describe the duties and responsibilities of own role
This activity enables you to demonstrate your knowledge of your own work role. Write a job description for your work role that outlines your duties and responsibilities.
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2: Introduction to personal development
Time to reflect
1.1
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■ Code of Conduct and Practice for Registered Teachers: General Teaching Council (GTC) ■ Standards of Conduct Performance & Ethics: Health Professionals Council (HPC) ■ Code of Practice for Doctors: General Medical Council (GMC)
How do you measure up?
1. Compare the job description that you wrote for Evidence Activity 1.1 with the official description for your job role. How do they compare? 2. Are you carrying out your duties as required, and do you conduct yourself in a responsible manner?
Research & investigate
1.2
Codes of Practice
Look at the websites for the above groups (www.gscc.org.uk; www.nmc-uk.org; www.gtce.org.uk, www.hpc-uk.org, www.gmc-uk.org).
1. Examine their Codes of Practice. 2. Are there any similarities between the codes?
Identify standards that influence the way the role is carried out
Standards are a required level of quality, and care has to meet certain standards. Standards include:
1.2
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Codes of Practice regulations minimum standards national occupational standards.
Codes of Practice
Codes of Practice set out the criteria against which providers are assessed by. They also describe the standards of conduct and practice with which workers must carry out their activities and ensure that what they do is competent and consistent with the values of their employer. These standards are how registrants’ ‘fitness to practice’ is determined. For a care worker to work in a certain profession, they have to register with their particular Professional Council and then work to the Codes of Practice which they deem fit. Not following their Code of Practice could result in them being taken of the register and no longer allowed to work in that role. Codes of Practice are specific to work
roles:
Figure 2.2 Inspection
Regulations
Regulations are the rules which organisations and care workers must follow. The Care Standards Act requires providers of health and care services to ensure that care provision is fit for purpose and meets the assessed needs of people using the services. The NHS & Community Care Act requires that all individuals are appropriately assessed and care plans are put into place. Care workers need to ensure they understand the regulations regarding provision and standards. Health and safety laws, such as the Health and Safety at Work Act, Management of Health and Safety at Work Act, Food Safety Act, Food 21
■ Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers and Employers: General Social Care Council (GSCC) ■ Codes or Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses & midwives: Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations, COSSH, RIDDOR and so on, need to be followed to ensure individuals receiving care are safe and free from harm. Care workers need to ensure they understand health and safety regulations. Confidentiality laws such as the Data Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act, Access to Medical Records and so on, regulate how information is collated, stored, accessed and deleted. Care workers need to ensure they understand confidentiality regulations.
National Occupational Standards
National Occupational Standards (NOS) are benchmarks of performance and provide a way to assess how well someone can do a job. They are work-related statements of the ability, knowledge, understanding and experience that an individual should have in order to carry out key tasks competently and effectively. The Health and Social Care (HSC) NOS and the Children’s Care Learning and Development (CCLD) NOS have been compiled by the Sector Skills Councils: Skills for Care, Skills for Health and the Children’s Workforce Development Council.
Research & investigate
1.2
Regulations
Look at the some of the regulations mentioned above. 1. What are the key principles? 2. Why would an effective care worker need to know these?
Key Term
Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) are employerled organisations that work to boost the skills of their sector workforces.
Research & investigate
National Minimum Standards
The Care Standards Act 2000 requires providers to ensure care provision is fit for purpose and meets the assessed needs of individuals. These requirements are written into National Minimum Standards (NMS) by the Department of Health. Areas covered are: 1.2
Standards and best practice
Look at: 2. The Codes of Practice for your work role. Sum up how they impact on your work role. 3. The key regulations which you have to follow in your role. Summarise the main regulations of your role. 4. The NMS for your work setting. Sum up how they impact on your work role. 5. The NOS for one of your key areas of work. What abilities, knowledge, understanding and experiences do they say you need to be able to carry out your work competently and effectively?
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children’s homes fostering services boarding schools care homes for adults domiciliary care residential special schools care homes for older people independent healthcare.
But whilst NMS are specific to individual health and care settings, all describe how a worker is expected to demonstrate competence in their work role. As they are ‘national’ they ensure that individuals receive the same level of care regardless of where they live.
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2: Introduction to personal development
You are unlikely to agree with the attitudes and belief systems of all the individuals you work with, nor will you share many of their experiences. However, best practice involves putting your own personal attitudes and beliefs to one side and respecting, promoting and responding positively to those of the people you work with. Allowing your own personal attitudes and beliefs to influence the way you work with people will prevent you seeing them as individuals and taking their individual needs into account. A lack of respect for others’ values, beliefs and experiences threatens their right to fair treatment, and regard for their individual needs is neglected. Tips to ensure personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work.
Evidence activity
1.2
Identify standards that influence the way the role is carried out
This activity enables you to demonstrate your understanding of the expectations about your own work role as expressed in relevant standards. Identify your key duties and responsibilities referring to Codes of Practice, Regulations, Minimum Standards and National Occupational Standards.
1.3
Describe ways to ensure that personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work
We all have attitudes; how we think, behave or what we value. Attitudes are very personal and different individuals have different attitudes. A belief system is a set of ideas and principles about what is right and wrong, true or false. Like attitudes, beliefs are very personal. One individual’s religious and political beliefs will be different from another’s. Their ideas about, for example, how to dress, what to eat, how to behave, what is right and wrong, just and decent, will also differ.
■ Find out about individuals – their history. Understanding the individual may challenge your own attitudes and values. ■ Find out about their attitudes and beliefs – ignorance can often be a barrier. Understanding may promote tolerance. ■ Be professional at work. Even if you fundamentally disagree with another individual’s attitudes and beliefs, they have the right to hold them, the same right as you have. Respect this. ■ Promote empathy. Considering life from their perspective may help you to appreciate their attitudes and beliefs.
Key term
Empathy means identifying with that person’s position, in order to understand from their perspective.
Time to reflect
1.3
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Who do you think you are?
Think about a time when you felt that you had been unfairly judged, perhaps ridiculed for your attitudes or beliefs. 1. How did this treatment make you feel? Now think about whether, in your personal life, you ever judge people unfairly because of their values, beliefs and experiences. 2. Why do you treat them unfairly? 3. Do you think you have any right to judge people like this? 4. How do you think you would have made them feel?
Figure 2.3 Respect? What’s that? 23
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Case Study
1.3
Evidence activity
1.3
Dorothy and Jessica
Dorothy is an elderly resident at the care home where Jessica works. She has a wealth of life experiences – she served as a nurse during World War II and not only had the opportunity to nurse a number of very interesting people, she also got to travel through Europe. She has been a committed Christian since her early childhood, which she spent in South East Asia where her mother and father were missionaries. Her husband was killed in action during the war and as a consequence and much to her disappointment she has no children. She is also a staunch Conservative. Jessica is 23 years old. She worked in a supermarket when she first left school, but the proximity of the care home to where she lives and the opportunity to swap shifts suits her better as it allows her, as a single parent, to play a more active role in bringing up her little boy. She is divorced from her husband because of the pressure he put on her to conform to his cultural background, including embracing his religion and social customs. She has no religious beliefs but, because of her father’s influence, is a loyal trade unionist. Jessica doesn’t enjoy working with Dorothy. She has no time for her ‘happy clappy God talk’ and stories about what she got up to in the war, and makes unkind jibes at her politics and the reasons she doesn’t have any children. As a result, Dorothy feels lonely and neglected; she has no confidence in Jessica as a care worker and is frustrated and angered by her lack of respect. 1. What do you think lies behind Jessica’s unkind treatment of Dorothy? 2. How might the tensions between the two ladies be resolved?
Describe ways to ensure that your personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of your work
This activity gives you an opportunity to demonstrate that your personal attitudes and beliefs do not obstruct the quality of your work. 1. Identify some individuals with whom you work whose personal attitudes and beliefs are different from your own. 2. In what ways are their values, beliefs and experiences different from yours? 3. Describe how you should deal with this so that the quality of your work isn’t affected.
work activities
2.1
LO2 Be able to reflect on own
Explain why reflecting on practice is an important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice
Being able to reflect on our actions and experiences, learn from them and adapt our behaviour accordingly are some of the most important personal development skills we can acquire. They are of equal importance in a professional development scenario. We need to consider our: Skills – how able we are at doing something or not.
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Knowledge – what we know or do not know.
■ Practices – how we behave or perform a task.
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2: Introduction to personal development
Key term
Critical means examining thoroughly, both the positives and the negatives.
Through being reflective: 1 We become more self-aware. Being self-aware allows us to have raised awareness of others and an increased sensitivity to their needs and how we care for them. We are able to identify weaker work practices, monitor standards and consider alternative approaches and activities in the pursuit of best practice. We have the opportunity to consider our own and others’ learning and development needs, thereby ensuring competent practice and improved quality of service. We are able to explore and deal with any negative feelings or anxieties associated with our work, and as a result develop a more positive attitude and improved relationships.
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3 Figure 2.4 Reflection Reflective practice is the process that enables us to achieve a better understanding of ourselves, our knowledge and understanding, our skills and competencies, and workplace practices in general. It involves: 4
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Considering what we do. Considering why we do it like that. Considering whether it is successful. Considering whether it could be done better. Planning for any changes to what we do.
Evidence activity
2.1
Research & investigate
2.1
Explain why reflecting on practice is an important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice
The voice of experience
Talk to some of your supervisors about reflective practice. What does reflective practice mean for them? How has it helped them both professionally and in their personal lives? What could reflective practice mean for you?
Engaging in critical reflective practice can be difficult. It challenges our comfortable assumptions about ourselves. However, it is very important for improving quality of service.
This activity enables you to demonstrate your understanding of the importance of reflective practice in continuously improving the quality of service provided. Explain why engaging in critical reflective practice is so important in your ability to continuously improve the quality of service you give to the people you work with.
2.2
Assess how well own knowledge, skills and understanding meet standards
‘We cannot move forward, if we don’t know where we are now.’
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Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Quite simply, this stage is assessing where we stand currently with our knowledge skills and understanding of how to meet standards. Doing this will allow care workers to move forward on the right path to fully recognising and understanding standards which are appropriate for them. As you read in the introduction, personal development is not just to do with education, or training and the development of skills, although development in these areas is very important to become a knowledgeable, competent and insightful worker and help progress up the career ladder. How would you assess your knowledge, performance and understanding at the moment? Obviously you feel it is in need of developing or you wouldn’t be reading this! But to someone who doesn’t work in the health and care sector or use its services, you might already appear to be rather clever! Complimentary though that may be, it is not a valid measure of your abilities. In order to show that you are indeed knowledgeable, competent and insightful, you need to meet the standards set by the various organisations that have an interest in boosting the skills of the health and care sector workforces. Whatever setting you work in, be it health, social care or with children and young people, there are Codes of Practice, Regulations, National Minimum Standards and National Occupational Standards setting out the standards that are required and expected of you at work and, indeed, by which you can measure yourself. It’s important that you do measure or monitor your knowledge, understanding, conduct and competence, for your own personal and professional development and also for the health, safety and well-being of the people you work with. To do this, you need to regularly reflect and evaluate how you compare with standards.
Case Study
2.2
Charlotte
Charlotte Brown recently started working as a domestic at Tiny Tots Playgroup because, according to her mother, ‘she absolutely loves children, is so good with them, she’s always buying them presents, they love her to bits’. 1. Do you think Mrs Brown’s assessment of her daughter’s performance has any value? 2. Explain your answer. 3. How would you suggest that Charlotte evaluate her performance?
Evidence activity
2.2
Assess yourself
Using the template below, and the research you did in 1.2 on standards which are relevant to you, complete the following table. Standards Codes of Practice Regulations Strengths of knowledge, skills and understanding Areas of knowledge, skills and understanding to develop
Minimum Standards National Occupational Standards
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2: Introduction to personal development commitment to take action as a result. In other words, you have to be prepared to move out of your comfort zone! 2. Reflection in action, which is reflecting on an activity whilst it is happening. Reflecting in action allows you to make changes to an activity whilst it is happening, usually because something unexpected or unwanted happens. Reflection in action requires you to think on your feet, quickly – learning on the job.
Demonstrate the ability to reflect on work activities
There are two main types of reflection: 1. Reflection on action, which is reflecting on an activity after it has happened. Reflecting on action allows you to learn from what has happened – learning from experience. For reflection on action to make any difference to your practice, you have to make a
2.3
Figure 2.5 Reflection on action and reflection in action
Practice activity
2.3
Demonstrate the ability to reflect on work activities
This activity gives you an opportunity to practise demonstrating your ability to reflect on your work practice. Identify an activity that you carried out recently. Complete the table below to show that you are developing the skills of reflective practice. 1. Think critically about your behaviour whilst carrying out the activity, for example: 2. Assess the impact of your behaviour, for example:
■ What were you doing? ■ What were you trying to achieve? ■ How were you feeling when you started the activity?
■ How did the activity make you feel? ■ How did the activity make you behave? ■ Why did you behave as you did? ■ What were the consequences of your behaviour for yourself?
■ What were you thinking about at the time? ■ What influenced the way you did the activity? ■ What were the consequences of your behaviour for others?
■ Where were you? ■ Why were you in that place? ■ Who else was there? What were they doing? ■ How did others feel? ■ How do you know this? contd. 27
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Practice activity contd.
3. Evaluate the impact that the activity had, for example: 4. Review how the activity could be changed, for example:
■ Did the activity achieve what it was meant to achieve?
■ Could you have done things in a different way?
■ What went well? ■ What did you do well? ■ What did others do well? ■ What went wrong or did not turn out as it should have done?
■ Could others have done things in a different way?
■ How else could the activity be carried out? ■ What would be the consequences of making these changes? 5. Plan for change, for example:
■ In what way did you or others contribute to this?
■ Whose interests seem to be served by the way the activity was carried out?
■ How will you carry out the activity next time?
personal development plan Identify sources of support for own learning and development
Reflection can come from your own considerations. However, there are other sources which can help evaluate learning and development. Feedback from others is useful because it can offer a viewpoint on your work which you may not see for yourself. Sources of support may include: 3.1
LO3 Be able to agree a
Within the organisation
Formal support
In any job role there is a range of support available to support care workers.
■ Induction. Induction is a process of introducing an individual to their new role and their responsibilities. This could help an individual to identify their strengths and weaknesses at the outset and may establish areas they need to develop. ■ Training. Organisations will all have systems in place for training and CPD (Continuing Professional Development). These could be run in-house (internally within the organisation) or with another training provider (externally). It may be that advertised training courses prompt thoughts such as ‘I need help with that!’. ■ Training days/inset days/development times. Organisations will often have specific periods for care workers to develop their skills and knowledge; this could also prompt discussion about ways to improve.
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Support within the organisation:
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formal support supervision appraisal informal support.
Support beyond the organisation: colleagues from other care organisations friends and family.
Key term
Continuing Professional Development is the process by which a workforce can maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge and skills and develop the personal qualities required in their work lives.
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Supervision
Your line manager or supervisor is a very important source of feedback as they are ultimately responsible for your work and conduct. Feedback from a line manager or supervisor should happen during appraisal and should be constructive, that is, positive and helpful. Negative feedback is destructive and doesn’t promote personal development and change. Supervision feedback could be formal, in set meetings or reviews. However, supervision is also beneficial in a more informal manner: regular catch ups, meetings, chats over coffee, bumping into each other at the photocopier and discussions as simple as ‘how’s it going?’ can also be important. 4
develop and what you need to do to further your development. Agree a date for a further meeting, to ensure that your development is continuously reviewed.
Key term
Performance indicators are a method of measuring the degree to which outcomes are achieved.
To be successful, appraisals and performance reviews should be used as the basis for making and reviewing your personal development plan. You will read about personal development plans shortly.
Informal support
Informal supervision, whilst not quite as structured as appraisals and performance reviews, is a very useful source of support. Informal supervision takes place on the job, by someone who is trained and who has the relevant experience. Figure 2.6 Seek feedback from the people you work with Sources of support for personal development within your workplace include the individuals and colleagues you work with on a day-to-day basis. They will be very much aware of your skills and developmental needs and happy to help you develop your care and team working skills if they know you will accept their support with a positive attitude and act on their advice. If, however, you are hostile to criticism and ignore it, they will think twice before giving any advice, however thoughtful their intentions. Feedback from the people you work with is probably the most important advice to take on board – they may see you in practice daily. Your relationship with them is a partnership, and partnership working demands a mutual show of respect, and so you must value other people’s opinions, choices and suggestions about the way you support and care for them.
Appraisals
Appraisals are an opportunity for you to reflect on your work practice and behaviour, talk about your strengths and plan for change in areas that are weak and need developing. Appraisals and performance reviews are another example of formal supervision in that they are planned, carried out according to official workplace policy and conducted in private. They are an opportunity for you and your line manager or supervisor to get together to: 1 Assess your performance against relevant standards and agreed performance indicators, for example attendance on courses, a specific skill, a specific target. Discuss your knowledge, understanding and achievements, including what you have learnt and achieved since your last appraisal/review; your personal attitudes and conduct; and your learning and personal development needs. Exchange views about your work practices – your strengths and how you can improve; your concerns and how they might be dealt with; how you would like your career to
2
Beyond the organisation
Colleagues from other care organisations
You may work with people from other services. Speaking to them and receiving input and support from them could provide a perspective from outside the confi nes of your own organisation. Sometimes, we only see what we
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Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care already see. Seeing a different person’s point of view from a different organisation could challenge your existing perspective.
Research & investigate
3.1
Friends and family
Although non-specialist, the people who know you could help with identifying your needs (remember confidentiality must be paramount at all times here). They may suggest courses, training or different ways of working as they know you best and may already be aware of areas you need development in.
Formal supervision in your workplace
Check out how often formal supervision (appraisal or performance review) should take place at your workplace, when and where your next appraisal or performance review will take place, and who will carry it out with you.
But remember ... finish the job! Take action!
As with reflective practice, for feedback to make any difference to your practice, you have to be prepared to act on it and make changes. Think about the feedback you’re given. You may not agree with the changes you’re asked to make, for example you may be asked to do something in a way that you feel is inappropriate, is not within your level of responsibility or would compromise health and safety. In situations like this, talk with your supervisor or line manager. However, most feedback will be positive and changes you’re asked to make will be well within your capability. Welcome feedback; ask for it and accept any criticism with a positive attitude to show that you are intent on doing your best and learning from your mistakes. Having a positive attitude and being willing to learn will encourage you to reflect on what you’ve been told. It will also help you deal with any negative comments and complaints and keep them in perspective.
Practice activity
3.1
Identify sources of support for own learning and development
This activity enables you to practise identifying sources of feedback to evaluate your performance and inform your development. 1. Consider your work placement. Make a list of all the various sources of support available to you. 2. Show this list to your supervisor to see if there are any more you could add to it. 3. Ask each source of support for some feedback on your progress and development.
Describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved
A personal development plan may have different names but is a record of information such as agreed objectives for development, proposed activities to meet objectives, timescales for review and so on. Figure 2.7 Formal supervision Personal development planning is a process that involves reflecting on your knowledge, understanding, attitudes, behaviour, work
3.2
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2: Introduction to personal development practice and achievements, and planning for your personal and career development. It aims to help you understand what and how you are learning, and to review, plan and take responsibility for your own development. Personal development planning will help you: 1 2 Become a more effective, independent and confident learner. Understand how you learn and apply your learning to different situations, thereby developing in your job role, both as a person and a practitioner. Set personal goals and evaluate and review your progress towards achieving them. Develop a positive attitude to learning and self-development throughout your life. And of course, staying knowledgeable about your duties and responsibilities and the Standards and Codes of Practice that relate to your job role will ensure that you constantly assess and review your performance and think about ways to develop. Sources of support for planning and reviewing your development outside of your workplace include organisations such as:
■ Connexions (www.connexions-direct.com) which supports young people living in England who want advice on getting to where they want to be in life. ■ Your local College of Further Education, which will assess your current skills and abilities and refer you to a learning programme that will meet both your personal and career development needs. ■ Websites such as the Careers Advice Service (www.careersadvice.direct.gov.uk), many of which can help you self-assess your current circumstances.
There is no excuse for sitting there and letting the world pass you by! Don’t be disappointed in 20 years by the things you don’t do now!
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Personal development planning is a structured and supported process. It is a good idea to seek support from others when you are planning and reviewing your development. This may include support from:
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carers advocates supervisor, line manager or employer other professionals
Practice activity
3.2
Your organisation may employ a Staff Development Officer, who can map your development needs with appropriate training courses and opportunities for mentoring and coaching.
Key terms
Mentoring refers to a developmental relationship in which a more experienced person helps someone who has less experience. Coaching is a method of directing, instructing and training a person or group of people, in order that they achieve some goal or develop specific skills.
Your organisation may employ a training officer or an NVQ assessor, each of whom have a responsibility to help you assess your learning and development needs and support you in meeting them. You may also have a colleague who is a Trade Union Learning Representative. Their function is to refer you to appropriate learning opportunities.
Describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved
This activity enables you to describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved. 1. Make a list of all the information you would need for developing a personal development plan. 2. Make a list of all who should be involved.
Contribute to drawing up own personal development plan
Once you have collated all your information, the next stage is to actually complete your Personal development plan. Clearly, different organisations will have different development plans based on their own systems and requirements. 31
3.3
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Below is an example of a personal development plan. Focus Area Area to develop Action to take Target to achieve Target date for completion Resources needed Staff Achievement
Figure 2.8 Example of a personal development plan
Key
■ Focus area – this is the general area a concern falls into, for example communication skills, practical skills, attendance and punctuality, report writing/record keeping skills, organisation, health and safety and so on. ■ Area to develop – this is the specific area which needs to be developed. Not to be written critically, but factually and objectively. ■ Action to take – what action needs to be taken to redress the area to be developed. This could be attendance on a course, shadowing another member of staff, improved outcomes or just more focus and attention.
Target to achieve – all targets should be SMART. S – Specific M – Measurable A – Achievable R – Realistic T – Time-based This makes them more likely to be successful as it is clear what is expected and by when. Target date for completion – this could be one overall date, or could be broken down in to frequent target dates to check progress at regular intervals.
■ Staff – the member of staff responsible for your target should clearly be defi ned so that they and you know who is responsible. It may be that different staff are responsible for different targets based on their skills and experience. ■ Achievement – here is where the review of your progress can be recorded. If the target has been met, then it may be signed off and new targets for the next time period can be set. If the target has not been met, then productive, non-critical discussions should follow as to why not to help to rectify and remove any problems to development.
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Practice activity
3.3
Contribute to drawing up your own personal development plan
This activity enables you to practise drawing up your own personal development plan. 1. Ask for a blank copy of your work placement’s personal development plan. 2. Based on the feedback from the sources of support you requested in previous sections, complete the plan as fully as you can.
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■ Resources needed – this could be fi nancially to pay for training or books, or it could be human resources such as staff who could support you with your targets, or it could be time for you to work on your areas to improve.
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■ Skills – what we are able to do which we weren’t able to before. ■ Practices – how we now perform a task in an improved way to before.
We each need to take responsibility for our own development. Hence it is best to seek out learning activities that are enjoyable and that will most benefit the way we work. Learning is most effective if you use your preferred learning style. Learning styles are simply different ways of learning and include visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. Visual learners learn best through seeing, for example:
Figure 2.9 Preparing to agree your PDP!
LO4 Be able to develop knowledge, skills and understanding
4.1
■ they may need to see somebody’s body language and facial expression to fully understand an interaction ■ they may learn best from visual displays such as diagrams, illustrated text books, DVDs, fl ipcharts and hand-outs ■ they may take notes during a class or training session, to help them absorb the information.
Auditory learners learn best through listening, for example:
Show how a learning activity has improved your own knowledge, skills and understanding
If a learning activity has been completed, we need to evaluate whether it has improved our knowledge, skills and understanding. It is important to evaluate the outcomes: 1. 2. 3. So that the individual can reflect on how their abilities have improved. So that supervisors and managers can see evidence of improvements. So that the people who organise learning activities can see whether they have been useful or not.
■ they may enjoy discussions, talking things through and listening to what others have to say ■ they may be good at ‘reading between the lines’, for example they are alert to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances of speech ■ it may be that written information does not inspire them to learn.
Kinaesthetic learners learn through doing, for example:
As mentioned in section 2.1, development could have been in:
they may fi nd it hard to sit still for long periods.
■ ■ ■
they may prefer a hands-on approach they may need activity to learn
■ Knowledge – what we now know which we didn’t know before.
Figure 2.10 Different learning styles 33
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
2 Your awareness of, attitude to and relationships with the people with whom you work. Your skills, competences and work practices and whether they meet and maintain expected standards and Codes of Practice. Yours and others’ training and development needs. Any negative feelings or anxieties you have about your work.
Evidence activity
4.1
Evaluate how learning activities have affected practice
3
4 5
This activity enables you to demonstrate how learning activities have affected your practice. Think about five learning activities you have participated in that were intended to develop your work practice, and complete the table below to show how your practice has been affected as a result. Learning activity and learning style 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. What do you conclude about your learning activities, which have had the greatest impact on your work? 2. How can you apply this conclusion to your future learning and development? Effect on your practice?
Case Study
4.2
Adele
Adele recently considered her performance at work. She realised that she was really good at what she called ‘customer service’, she spoke on the phone really well and listened to what individuals had to say. She also realised though that sometimes she spoke in slang, and although not meaning to, she thought she might sound unprofessional. She also considered how, when she received emails from colleagues she didn’t really get on with, she usually deleted them without reading. Days later, they would come and find her to speak to her, making her dislike them even more. She reflected that if she read the email initially and responded, then they wouldn’t need to challenge her about it, and maybe this was a self-fulfilling prophecy she had created. Lastly, she reflected on her organisation skills. She felt that although she was excellent on a computer, her written skills were poor and her report writing at work at times illegible. Adele resolved to tackle all three areas of concern. 1. How has this reflection been beneficial to Adele? 2. What suggestions would you make for Adele? 3. Why would her care worker be pleased with Adele’s reflection?
Show how reflecting on a situation has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding
You looked at reflective practice earlier in this chapter and were given an opportunity to explain its importance in improving the service you provide as well as demonstrating your ability to reflect on your work practices. This section asks you to identify how your work has improved as a result of reflective practice. The reflection process requires you to think critically about areas such as the following and how each affects your work: 1 Your personal beliefs, values and experiences.
4.2
34
2: Introduction to personal development
Key term
Self-fulfilling prophecy means a
Practice activity
4.2
prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true.
Reflction enables you to identify learning and development needs in order that skills, competences and work practices continuously improve.
Show how reflecting on a situation has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding
Time to reflect
4.2
9
12 6
This activity enables you to practise reflecting on a situation that has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding. 1. Identify three work practices that are carried out at your workplace which you can reflect on. 2. Identify the strengths and areas to develop in each practice. 3. Describe how you think each could be improved. 4. Discuss your ideas for improvement with your line manager or supervisor. 5. If agreed, put your ideas for improvement into practice.
3
How are you getting on?
Most of the activities in this chapter have asked you to think about the effect of your behaviour and work practices on other people. This one looks at how you are affected. 1. Are there any aspects of your job role or other people’s work practices or behaviours that you don’t enjoy or can’t cope with? 2. How do you think things could be improved such that work became more enjoyable and manageable for you? 3. Who can you talk to about your concerns and suggestions for improvement?
Show how feedback from others has developed own knowledge, skills and understanding
Section 3.1 considered the different sources of support which could be used to assist development. In this section, consideration will be given to how to use this feedback to develop your own knowledge, skills and understanding.
4.3
35
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Case Study
4.3
List actions you could take and changes you could make to present in your PDP.
■ ■
Act on the feedback!
Yosef Practice activity
4.3
Yosef is a good natured member of the workforce. He has lots of good intentions but never gets around to sorting anything out; he can sometimes be a bit ‘haphazard’. He has done what his course has required, and has asked for feedback from varied sources of support. He has ‘stored’ this information at the bottom of his bag, which is screwed up and not organised. He has not looked at it since, as he thinks he is ‘doing great at work, it’s brilliant!’. If Yosef was actually to look at his feedback there are some positives, but there are also some significant concerns and areas where he needs to develop. 1. Explain why ignoring this could be a problem for Yosef. 2. Explain why Yosef not developing or recognising his ‘concerns’ is a problem for his care setting. 3. In the longer term, what may happen to Yosef?
Show how feedback from others has developed own knowledge, skills and understanding
This activity enables you to show how feedback from others has developed your own knowledge, skills and understanding. 1. Review the feedback you gained in Practice activity 3.1. 2. Summarise the strengths that the feedback suggests. 3. Summarise the areas you need to develop that the feedback suggests. 4. How has this feedback developed your own thoughts of your development? 5. What action do you plan to take from this feedback to develop your own knowledge, skills and understanding?
There is little point gaining feedback if one does little with it. If spoken, it needs to be listened to (and notes taken if needed). The feedback needs to be summarised into strengths (positives) and areas to develop (weaknesses).
■ ■ ■ ■
If written, it needs to be read fully.
Show how to record progress in relation to personal development
Your personal development plan is an ongoing record of your strengths, goals and objectives, learning and development needs, and achievements. In other words, it is a record of your progress in relation to your personal and professional development. Why record personal and professional development? Especially when time is at a premium and doing the learning can seem more important than noting down what we’ve learned? Recording is important for a number of reasons:
4.4
It needs to be stored appropriately.
■ The feedback needs to be analysed maturely and critically. Although at times it can be difficult to confront one’s own failings, little progress will be made if it is taken personally. ■ If it is felt that feedback is too critical or harsh, it is perfectly acceptable to challenge it and present your opinions and perspectives. Just because someone else has said it, it doesn’t ALWAYS mean it is right! ■
Discuss the feedback with your supervisor.
■ ■
it helps us reflect and review it reminds us of what we’ve learnt
36
2: Introduction to personal development
■ it helps us build our CV and provides information for potential employers ■ it provides the framework for appraisals and promotion boards ■ it’s a regulatory requirement for some professions it provides evidence when we need to prove competence, for example when applying for professional registration.
Records can take the form of a simple learning journal or log-book, on paper or in a computer fi le; and a ring-binder can be used for storing evidential statements, course notes, certificates, reading lists and lists of books, articles and so on that you’ve read and that have helped you. More formal personal development action plans and portfolios of evidence record learning in a more organised way, for example they might include summaries of evidence, personal references and cross-referencing of learning. Alternatively, you could use an on-line system, which will provide a set format guiding you in what to record and when to update your record. However you choose to record your development, make it fit with your circumstances, the expectations of your employer and any regulatory requirements you have to comply with. When thinking about how to record your personal development plan, bear in mind issues of confidentiality. If you refer by name to the people you work with, you must ensure confidentiality as per your organisation’s legal requirements. You might also want to bear in mind the location of your record and its accessibility. You need to update your record regularly, but you also need to be able to take it with you if you change jobs.
■
Key term
Professional registration demonstrates that you have met standards of competence and is a requirement for employment of a number of professionals.
Records of personal development should include information such as:
■ What you’ve learnt and when, how you learnt it and any evidence that verifies your learning. ■ Evidence to show how your learning has developed your practice, for example, statements from your line manager, colleagues and the people you work with. ■ How you’ve used support and in what ways you found it useful. ■ How well you feel that you are progressing towards your long-term goals. ■
How your learning needs are developing.
Practice activity
4.4
Show how to record your progress in relation to personal development
This activity enables you to practise showing how to record your progress in relation to your personal development. Create your own personal development plan, find an on-line pro-forma or get hold of one that is produced by your workplace. Start using it to keep a record of your personal development, updating it as regularly as you think appropriate or your workplace policy requires.
Figure 2.11 Completing and storing your PDP
37
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Assessment summary
Your reading of this chapter and completion of the activities will have prepared you to demonstrate your learning and understanding of the principles of safeguarding and protection in health and social care. Assessment of Learning Outcomes 2,3,4,5 and 6 must be assessed in a real work environment. To achieve the unit, your assessor will require you to:
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome : Understand what is required for competence in your work role by:
Assessment Criteria
1.1 describing the duties and responsibilities
1
of own role
See Evidence activity 1.1 on p. 20
1.2 identifying standards that influence the
way the role is carried out
See Evidence activity 1.2 on p. 23
1.3 describing ways to ensure that personal
attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work. See Evidence activity 1.3 on p. 24
Learning Outcome : Be able to reflect on own work activities by:
2
2.1 explaining why reflecting of practice is an
important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice
See Evidence activity 2.1 on p. 25
2.2 assessing how well own knowledge, skills
and understanding meet standards
See Evidence activity 2.2 on p. 26
2.3 demonstrating the ability to reflect on
work activities.
See Practice activity 2.3 on p. 27
Learning Outcome : Be able to agree a personal development plan by:
3
3.1 identifying sources of support for own
learning and development
See Practice activity 3.1 on p. 30
3.2 describing the process for agreeing a
personal development plan and who should be involved
See Practice activity 3.2 on p. 31
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2: Introduction to personal development
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome : Be able to agree a personal development plan by:
Assessment Criteria
3.3 contributing to drawing up own personal
3 4
development plan.
See Practice activity 3.3 on p. 32
Learning Outcome : Be able to develop knowledge, skills and understanding by:
4.1 showing how a learning activity has
improved on knowledge, skills and understanding
See Evidence activity 4.1 on p. 34
4.2 showing how reflecting on a situation has
improved own knowledge, skills and understanding
See Practice activity 4.2 on p. 35
4.3 showing how feedback from others has
developed own knowledge, skills and understanding
See Practice activity 4.3 on p. 36
4.4 showing how to record progress in
relation to personal development.
See Practice activity 4.4 on p. 37
Good luck!
Weblinks
Care Quality Commission Community Care Careers General Medical Council General Social Care Council General Teaching Council for England Government Careers Advice website Healthcare Careers Health Professionals Council Ofsted Nursing and Midwifery Council Social Care & Counselling careers Skills for Health Skills for Care and Development Government website (public services) www.cqc.org.u www.communitycare.co.uk/jobs/search www.gmc-uk.org ww.gscc.org.uk www.gtce.org.uk www.careersadvice.direct.gov.uk www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u www.hpc-uk.org www.ofsted.gov.uk www.nmc-uk.org www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u www.skillsforhealth.org.uk www.skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk www.direct.gov.uk
39
Introduction to personal development in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
For Unit SHC22
What are you finding out?
Personal development is not just to do with education or training and the development of skills and interests. It is also about developing a better understanding of yourself, your values, beliefs and experiences, and how they impact on your behaviour. It is about appreciating what motivates you to learn so that you can achieve your full potential. Personal development is important because life without change may lead to a duller existence. The thought of change can be unwelcome – ‘I am quite comfortable as I am, thank you.’ But in order to handle new challenges, achieve a better quality of life …show more content…
or become accomplished in our work, we need to move out of our comfort zone, reflect on our experiences and … change, even if it’s just a minor adjustment. As Mark Twain said, ‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.’ Personal development is stimulating and energising. It opens doors, in our personal lives and at work. Learning does not end when we fi nish school. The reading and activities in this chapter will help you to:
■ Understand what is required for competence in your work role
Be able to agree a personal development plan
■ ■
Be able to reflect on your work practice
■ Be able to develop knowledge, skills and understanding.
required for competence in own work role Describe the duties and responsibilities of own role
Work in the health and social care sector covers many job roles. Loosely, these can be categorised into three areas: 1. 2. Ancillary – domestics, electricians, porters, etc. Administration and managerial – office staff, receptionists, senior management, (such as chief executives and owners or managers of private care providers), etc. Providers of care – nurses, teachers, care workers, midwives, social workers, nursery workers, etc. 1.1
LO1 Understand what is
Key Term
Ancillary workers in health and social care are staff who do not provide hands-on care.
There are many organisations, internet sites, professional journals, newspapers and so on, which describe job roles within health, social care, children’s and young people’s settings. Descriptions will include:
professional development and career pathways associated with job roles
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
entrance requirements for each role qualifications skills personal qualities
3.
hours of work rates of pay.
19
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Possibly, you applied for your current job role because the job description caught your eye and you thought you would enjoy the duties and responsibilities involved. 1 Duties are the tasks or activities that you are paid to carry out. They are listed in your job description and contract of employment. Responsibilities are to do with the qualities that underpin the way you work, for example that you are reliable, dependable, conscientious and trustworthy; that you conduct yourself as required and demonstrate respect, consideration and maturity; that you comply with policies and procedures and Codes of Practice as relevant to the care setting. Being responsible means being accountable for your actions and being prepared to improve.
2
Figure 2.1 A multitude of job roles The internet is a good starting point for exploring roles within the health and social care sectors. Websites you may fi nd interesting include: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Healthcare careers www.connexionsdirect.com/jobs4u Social care and counselling www. connexions-direct.com/jobs4u Community care www.communitycare. co.uk/jobs/search Skills for Health www.skillsforhealth.org. uk Skills for Care and Development www. skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk Directgov www.direct.gov.uk
Time to reflect
1.1
9
12 6
3
How does your job measure up?
Think about your duties and responsibilities. 1. Are they more or less what you expected them to be? 2. Do you sometimes find the job demanding and easier said than done or, on the other hand, insufficiently interesting or challenging?
Research & investigate
1.1
Fancy a change? Evidence activity
1.1
Think about a couple of jobs in a health or care setting that you’d like to be in now, instead of your current role. Research as much information as you need in order to decide whether either of the jobs would be appropriate for you, for example, you could search the internet or visit your local connexions office or Jobcentre. 1. What do you think the key roles of each job are? 2. Are you suited for each or either role? 3. Would you enjoy either or each of them?
Describe the duties and responsibilities of own role
This activity enables you to demonstrate your knowledge of your own work role. Write a job description for your work role that outlines your duties and responsibilities.
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2: Introduction to personal development
Time to reflect
1.1
9
12 6
3
■ Code of Conduct and Practice for Registered Teachers: General Teaching Council (GTC) ■ Standards of Conduct Performance & Ethics: Health Professionals Council (HPC) ■ Code of Practice for Doctors: General Medical Council (GMC)
How do you measure up?
1. Compare the job description that you wrote for Evidence Activity 1.1 with the official description for your job role. How do they compare? 2. Are you carrying out your duties as required, and do you conduct yourself in a responsible manner?
Research & investigate
1.2
Codes of Practice
Look at the websites for the above groups (www.gscc.org.uk; www.nmc-uk.org; www.gtce.org.uk, www.hpc-uk.org, www.gmc-uk.org).
1. Examine their Codes of Practice. 2. Are there any similarities between the codes?
Identify standards that influence the way the role is carried out
Standards are a required level of quality, and care has to meet certain standards. Standards include:
1.2
■ ■ ■ ■
Codes of Practice regulations minimum standards national occupational standards.
Codes of Practice
Codes of Practice set out the criteria against which providers are assessed by. They also describe the standards of conduct and practice with which workers must carry out their activities and ensure that what they do is competent and consistent with the values of their employer. These standards are how registrants’ ‘fitness to practice’ is determined. For a care worker to work in a certain profession, they have to register with their particular Professional Council and then work to the Codes of Practice which they deem fit. Not following their Code of Practice could result in them being taken of the register and no longer allowed to work in that role. Codes of Practice are specific to work
roles:
Figure 2.2 Inspection
Regulations
Regulations are the rules which organisations and care workers must follow. The Care Standards Act requires providers of health and care services to ensure that care provision is fit for purpose and meets the assessed needs of people using the services. The NHS & Community Care Act requires that all individuals are appropriately assessed and care plans are put into place. Care workers need to ensure they understand the regulations regarding provision and standards. Health and safety laws, such as the Health and Safety at Work Act, Management of Health and Safety at Work Act, Food Safety Act, Food 21
■ Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers and Employers: General Social Care Council (GSCC) ■ Codes or Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses & midwives: Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations, COSSH, RIDDOR and so on, need to be followed to ensure individuals receiving care are safe and free from harm. Care workers need to ensure they understand health and safety regulations. Confidentiality laws such as the Data Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act, Access to Medical Records and so on, regulate how information is collated, stored, accessed and deleted. Care workers need to ensure they understand confidentiality regulations.
National Occupational Standards
National Occupational Standards (NOS) are benchmarks of performance and provide a way to assess how well someone can do a job. They are work-related statements of the ability, knowledge, understanding and experience that an individual should have in order to carry out key tasks competently and effectively. The Health and Social Care (HSC) NOS and the Children’s Care Learning and Development (CCLD) NOS have been compiled by the Sector Skills Councils: Skills for Care, Skills for Health and the Children’s Workforce Development Council.
Research & investigate
1.2
Regulations
Look at the some of the regulations mentioned above. 1. What are the key principles? 2. Why would an effective care worker need to know these?
Key Term
Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) are employerled organisations that work to boost the skills of their sector workforces.
Research & investigate
National Minimum Standards
The Care Standards Act 2000 requires providers to ensure care provision is fit for purpose and meets the assessed needs of individuals. These requirements are written into National Minimum Standards (NMS) by the Department of Health. Areas covered are: 1.2
Standards and best practice
Look at: 2. The Codes of Practice for your work role. Sum up how they impact on your work role. 3. The key regulations which you have to follow in your role. Summarise the main regulations of your role. 4. The NMS for your work setting. Sum up how they impact on your work role. 5. The NOS for one of your key areas of work. What abilities, knowledge, understanding and experiences do they say you need to be able to carry out your work competently and effectively?
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
children’s homes fostering services boarding schools care homes for adults domiciliary care residential special schools care homes for older people independent healthcare.
But whilst NMS are specific to individual health and care settings, all describe how a worker is expected to demonstrate competence in their work role. As they are ‘national’ they ensure that individuals receive the same level of care regardless of where they live.
22
2: Introduction to personal development
You are unlikely to agree with the attitudes and belief systems of all the individuals you work with, nor will you share many of their experiences. However, best practice involves putting your own personal attitudes and beliefs to one side and respecting, promoting and responding positively to those of the people you work with. Allowing your own personal attitudes and beliefs to influence the way you work with people will prevent you seeing them as individuals and taking their individual needs into account. A lack of respect for others’ values, beliefs and experiences threatens their right to fair treatment, and regard for their individual needs is neglected. Tips to ensure personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work.
Evidence activity
1.2
Identify standards that influence the way the role is carried out
This activity enables you to demonstrate your understanding of the expectations about your own work role as expressed in relevant standards. Identify your key duties and responsibilities referring to Codes of Practice, Regulations, Minimum Standards and National Occupational Standards.
1.3
Describe ways to ensure that personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work
We all have attitudes; how we think, behave or what we value. Attitudes are very personal and different individuals have different attitudes. A belief system is a set of ideas and principles about what is right and wrong, true or false. Like attitudes, beliefs are very personal. One individual’s religious and political beliefs will be different from another’s. Their ideas about, for example, how to dress, what to eat, how to behave, what is right and wrong, just and decent, will also differ.
■ Find out about individuals – their history. Understanding the individual may challenge your own attitudes and values. ■ Find out about their attitudes and beliefs – ignorance can often be a barrier. Understanding may promote tolerance. ■ Be professional at work. Even if you fundamentally disagree with another individual’s attitudes and beliefs, they have the right to hold them, the same right as you have. Respect this. ■ Promote empathy. Considering life from their perspective may help you to appreciate their attitudes and beliefs.
Key term
Empathy means identifying with that person’s position, in order to understand from their perspective.
Time to reflect
1.3
9
12 6
3
Who do you think you are?
Think about a time when you felt that you had been unfairly judged, perhaps ridiculed for your attitudes or beliefs. 1. How did this treatment make you feel? Now think about whether, in your personal life, you ever judge people unfairly because of their values, beliefs and experiences. 2. Why do you treat them unfairly? 3. Do you think you have any right to judge people like this? 4. How do you think you would have made them feel?
Figure 2.3 Respect? What’s that? 23
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Case Study
1.3
Evidence activity
1.3
Dorothy and Jessica
Dorothy is an elderly resident at the care home where Jessica works. She has a wealth of life experiences – she served as a nurse during World War II and not only had the opportunity to nurse a number of very interesting people, she also got to travel through Europe. She has been a committed Christian since her early childhood, which she spent in South East Asia where her mother and father were missionaries. Her husband was killed in action during the war and as a consequence and much to her disappointment she has no children. She is also a staunch Conservative. Jessica is 23 years old. She worked in a supermarket when she first left school, but the proximity of the care home to where she lives and the opportunity to swap shifts suits her better as it allows her, as a single parent, to play a more active role in bringing up her little boy. She is divorced from her husband because of the pressure he put on her to conform to his cultural background, including embracing his religion and social customs. She has no religious beliefs but, because of her father’s influence, is a loyal trade unionist. Jessica doesn’t enjoy working with Dorothy. She has no time for her ‘happy clappy God talk’ and stories about what she got up to in the war, and makes unkind jibes at her politics and the reasons she doesn’t have any children. As a result, Dorothy feels lonely and neglected; she has no confidence in Jessica as a care worker and is frustrated and angered by her lack of respect. 1. What do you think lies behind Jessica’s unkind treatment of Dorothy? 2. How might the tensions between the two ladies be resolved?
Describe ways to ensure that your personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of your work
This activity gives you an opportunity to demonstrate that your personal attitudes and beliefs do not obstruct the quality of your work. 1. Identify some individuals with whom you work whose personal attitudes and beliefs are different from your own. 2. In what ways are their values, beliefs and experiences different from yours? 3. Describe how you should deal with this so that the quality of your work isn’t affected.
work activities
2.1
LO2 Be able to reflect on own
Explain why reflecting on practice is an important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice
Being able to reflect on our actions and experiences, learn from them and adapt our behaviour accordingly are some of the most important personal development skills we can acquire. They are of equal importance in a professional development scenario. We need to consider our: Skills – how able we are at doing something or not.
■ ■
Knowledge – what we know or do not know.
■ Practices – how we behave or perform a task.
24
2: Introduction to personal development
Key term
Critical means examining thoroughly, both the positives and the negatives.
Through being reflective: 1 We become more self-aware. Being self-aware allows us to have raised awareness of others and an increased sensitivity to their needs and how we care for them. We are able to identify weaker work practices, monitor standards and consider alternative approaches and activities in the pursuit of best practice. We have the opportunity to consider our own and others’ learning and development needs, thereby ensuring competent practice and improved quality of service. We are able to explore and deal with any negative feelings or anxieties associated with our work, and as a result develop a more positive attitude and improved relationships.
2
3 Figure 2.4 Reflection Reflective practice is the process that enables us to achieve a better understanding of ourselves, our knowledge and understanding, our skills and competencies, and workplace practices in general. It involves: 4
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Considering what we do. Considering why we do it like that. Considering whether it is successful. Considering whether it could be done better. Planning for any changes to what we do.
Evidence activity
2.1
Research & investigate
2.1
Explain why reflecting on practice is an important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice
The voice of experience
Talk to some of your supervisors about reflective practice. What does reflective practice mean for them? How has it helped them both professionally and in their personal lives? What could reflective practice mean for you?
Engaging in critical reflective practice can be difficult. It challenges our comfortable assumptions about ourselves. However, it is very important for improving quality of service.
This activity enables you to demonstrate your understanding of the importance of reflective practice in continuously improving the quality of service provided. Explain why engaging in critical reflective practice is so important in your ability to continuously improve the quality of service you give to the people you work with.
2.2
Assess how well own knowledge, skills and understanding meet standards
‘We cannot move forward, if we don’t know where we are now.’
25
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Quite simply, this stage is assessing where we stand currently with our knowledge skills and understanding of how to meet standards. Doing this will allow care workers to move forward on the right path to fully recognising and understanding standards which are appropriate for them. As you read in the introduction, personal development is not just to do with education, or training and the development of skills, although development in these areas is very important to become a knowledgeable, competent and insightful worker and help progress up the career ladder. How would you assess your knowledge, performance and understanding at the moment? Obviously you feel it is in need of developing or you wouldn’t be reading this! But to someone who doesn’t work in the health and care sector or use its services, you might already appear to be rather clever! Complimentary though that may be, it is not a valid measure of your abilities. In order to show that you are indeed knowledgeable, competent and insightful, you need to meet the standards set by the various organisations that have an interest in boosting the skills of the health and care sector workforces. Whatever setting you work in, be it health, social care or with children and young people, there are Codes of Practice, Regulations, National Minimum Standards and National Occupational Standards setting out the standards that are required and expected of you at work and, indeed, by which you can measure yourself. It’s important that you do measure or monitor your knowledge, understanding, conduct and competence, for your own personal and professional development and also for the health, safety and well-being of the people you work with. To do this, you need to regularly reflect and evaluate how you compare with standards.
Case Study
2.2
Charlotte
Charlotte Brown recently started working as a domestic at Tiny Tots Playgroup because, according to her mother, ‘she absolutely loves children, is so good with them, she’s always buying them presents, they love her to bits’. 1. Do you think Mrs Brown’s assessment of her daughter’s performance has any value? 2. Explain your answer. 3. How would you suggest that Charlotte evaluate her performance?
Evidence activity
2.2
Assess yourself
Using the template below, and the research you did in 1.2 on standards which are relevant to you, complete the following table. Standards Codes of Practice Regulations Strengths of knowledge, skills and understanding Areas of knowledge, skills and understanding to develop
Minimum Standards National Occupational Standards
26
2: Introduction to personal development commitment to take action as a result. In other words, you have to be prepared to move out of your comfort zone! 2. Reflection in action, which is reflecting on an activity whilst it is happening. Reflecting in action allows you to make changes to an activity whilst it is happening, usually because something unexpected or unwanted happens. Reflection in action requires you to think on your feet, quickly – learning on the job.
Demonstrate the ability to reflect on work activities
There are two main types of reflection: 1. Reflection on action, which is reflecting on an activity after it has happened. Reflecting on action allows you to learn from what has happened – learning from experience. For reflection on action to make any difference to your practice, you have to make a
2.3
Figure 2.5 Reflection on action and reflection in action
Practice activity
2.3
Demonstrate the ability to reflect on work activities
This activity gives you an opportunity to practise demonstrating your ability to reflect on your work practice. Identify an activity that you carried out recently. Complete the table below to show that you are developing the skills of reflective practice. 1. Think critically about your behaviour whilst carrying out the activity, for example: 2. Assess the impact of your behaviour, for example:
■ What were you doing? ■ What were you trying to achieve? ■ How were you feeling when you started the activity?
■ How did the activity make you feel? ■ How did the activity make you behave? ■ Why did you behave as you did? ■ What were the consequences of your behaviour for yourself?
■ What were you thinking about at the time? ■ What influenced the way you did the activity? ■ What were the consequences of your behaviour for others?
■ Where were you? ■ Why were you in that place? ■ Who else was there? What were they doing? ■ How did others feel? ■ How do you know this? contd. 27
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Practice activity contd.
3. Evaluate the impact that the activity had, for example: 4. Review how the activity could be changed, for example:
■ Did the activity achieve what it was meant to achieve?
■ Could you have done things in a different way?
■ What went well? ■ What did you do well? ■ What did others do well? ■ What went wrong or did not turn out as it should have done?
■ Could others have done things in a different way?
■ How else could the activity be carried out? ■ What would be the consequences of making these changes? 5. Plan for change, for example:
■ In what way did you or others contribute to this?
■ Whose interests seem to be served by the way the activity was carried out?
■ How will you carry out the activity next time?
personal development plan Identify sources of support for own learning and development
Reflection can come from your own considerations. However, there are other sources which can help evaluate learning and development. Feedback from others is useful because it can offer a viewpoint on your work which you may not see for yourself. Sources of support may include: 3.1
LO3 Be able to agree a
Within the organisation
Formal support
In any job role there is a range of support available to support care workers.
■ Induction. Induction is a process of introducing an individual to their new role and their responsibilities. This could help an individual to identify their strengths and weaknesses at the outset and may establish areas they need to develop. ■ Training. Organisations will all have systems in place for training and CPD (Continuing Professional Development). These could be run in-house (internally within the organisation) or with another training provider (externally). It may be that advertised training courses prompt thoughts such as ‘I need help with that!’. ■ Training days/inset days/development times. Organisations will often have specific periods for care workers to develop their skills and knowledge; this could also prompt discussion about ways to improve.
■
Support within the organisation:
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
formal support supervision appraisal informal support.
Support beyond the organisation: colleagues from other care organisations friends and family.
Key term
Continuing Professional Development is the process by which a workforce can maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge and skills and develop the personal qualities required in their work lives.
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2: Introduction to personal development
Supervision
Your line manager or supervisor is a very important source of feedback as they are ultimately responsible for your work and conduct. Feedback from a line manager or supervisor should happen during appraisal and should be constructive, that is, positive and helpful. Negative feedback is destructive and doesn’t promote personal development and change. Supervision feedback could be formal, in set meetings or reviews. However, supervision is also beneficial in a more informal manner: regular catch ups, meetings, chats over coffee, bumping into each other at the photocopier and discussions as simple as ‘how’s it going?’ can also be important. 4
develop and what you need to do to further your development. Agree a date for a further meeting, to ensure that your development is continuously reviewed.
Key term
Performance indicators are a method of measuring the degree to which outcomes are achieved.
To be successful, appraisals and performance reviews should be used as the basis for making and reviewing your personal development plan. You will read about personal development plans shortly.
Informal support
Informal supervision, whilst not quite as structured as appraisals and performance reviews, is a very useful source of support. Informal supervision takes place on the job, by someone who is trained and who has the relevant experience. Figure 2.6 Seek feedback from the people you work with Sources of support for personal development within your workplace include the individuals and colleagues you work with on a day-to-day basis. They will be very much aware of your skills and developmental needs and happy to help you develop your care and team working skills if they know you will accept their support with a positive attitude and act on their advice. If, however, you are hostile to criticism and ignore it, they will think twice before giving any advice, however thoughtful their intentions. Feedback from the people you work with is probably the most important advice to take on board – they may see you in practice daily. Your relationship with them is a partnership, and partnership working demands a mutual show of respect, and so you must value other people’s opinions, choices and suggestions about the way you support and care for them.
Appraisals
Appraisals are an opportunity for you to reflect on your work practice and behaviour, talk about your strengths and plan for change in areas that are weak and need developing. Appraisals and performance reviews are another example of formal supervision in that they are planned, carried out according to official workplace policy and conducted in private. They are an opportunity for you and your line manager or supervisor to get together to: 1 Assess your performance against relevant standards and agreed performance indicators, for example attendance on courses, a specific skill, a specific target. Discuss your knowledge, understanding and achievements, including what you have learnt and achieved since your last appraisal/review; your personal attitudes and conduct; and your learning and personal development needs. Exchange views about your work practices – your strengths and how you can improve; your concerns and how they might be dealt with; how you would like your career to
2
Beyond the organisation
Colleagues from other care organisations
You may work with people from other services. Speaking to them and receiving input and support from them could provide a perspective from outside the confi nes of your own organisation. Sometimes, we only see what we
3
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Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care already see. Seeing a different person’s point of view from a different organisation could challenge your existing perspective.
Research & investigate
3.1
Friends and family
Although non-specialist, the people who know you could help with identifying your needs (remember confidentiality must be paramount at all times here). They may suggest courses, training or different ways of working as they know you best and may already be aware of areas you need development in.
Formal supervision in your workplace
Check out how often formal supervision (appraisal or performance review) should take place at your workplace, when and where your next appraisal or performance review will take place, and who will carry it out with you.
But remember ... finish the job! Take action!
As with reflective practice, for feedback to make any difference to your practice, you have to be prepared to act on it and make changes. Think about the feedback you’re given. You may not agree with the changes you’re asked to make, for example you may be asked to do something in a way that you feel is inappropriate, is not within your level of responsibility or would compromise health and safety. In situations like this, talk with your supervisor or line manager. However, most feedback will be positive and changes you’re asked to make will be well within your capability. Welcome feedback; ask for it and accept any criticism with a positive attitude to show that you are intent on doing your best and learning from your mistakes. Having a positive attitude and being willing to learn will encourage you to reflect on what you’ve been told. It will also help you deal with any negative comments and complaints and keep them in perspective.
Practice activity
3.1
Identify sources of support for own learning and development
This activity enables you to practise identifying sources of feedback to evaluate your performance and inform your development. 1. Consider your work placement. Make a list of all the various sources of support available to you. 2. Show this list to your supervisor to see if there are any more you could add to it. 3. Ask each source of support for some feedback on your progress and development.
Describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved
A personal development plan may have different names but is a record of information such as agreed objectives for development, proposed activities to meet objectives, timescales for review and so on. Figure 2.7 Formal supervision Personal development planning is a process that involves reflecting on your knowledge, understanding, attitudes, behaviour, work
3.2
30
2: Introduction to personal development practice and achievements, and planning for your personal and career development. It aims to help you understand what and how you are learning, and to review, plan and take responsibility for your own development. Personal development planning will help you: 1 2 Become a more effective, independent and confident learner. Understand how you learn and apply your learning to different situations, thereby developing in your job role, both as a person and a practitioner. Set personal goals and evaluate and review your progress towards achieving them. Develop a positive attitude to learning and self-development throughout your life. And of course, staying knowledgeable about your duties and responsibilities and the Standards and Codes of Practice that relate to your job role will ensure that you constantly assess and review your performance and think about ways to develop. Sources of support for planning and reviewing your development outside of your workplace include organisations such as:
■ Connexions (www.connexions-direct.com) which supports young people living in England who want advice on getting to where they want to be in life. ■ Your local College of Further Education, which will assess your current skills and abilities and refer you to a learning programme that will meet both your personal and career development needs. ■ Websites such as the Careers Advice Service (www.careersadvice.direct.gov.uk), many of which can help you self-assess your current circumstances.
There is no excuse for sitting there and letting the world pass you by! Don’t be disappointed in 20 years by the things you don’t do now!
3 4
Personal development planning is a structured and supported process. It is a good idea to seek support from others when you are planning and reviewing your development. This may include support from:
■ ■ ■ ■
carers advocates supervisor, line manager or employer other professionals
Practice activity
3.2
Your organisation may employ a Staff Development Officer, who can map your development needs with appropriate training courses and opportunities for mentoring and coaching.
Key terms
Mentoring refers to a developmental relationship in which a more experienced person helps someone who has less experience. Coaching is a method of directing, instructing and training a person or group of people, in order that they achieve some goal or develop specific skills.
Your organisation may employ a training officer or an NVQ assessor, each of whom have a responsibility to help you assess your learning and development needs and support you in meeting them. You may also have a colleague who is a Trade Union Learning Representative. Their function is to refer you to appropriate learning opportunities.
Describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved
This activity enables you to describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved. 1. Make a list of all the information you would need for developing a personal development plan. 2. Make a list of all who should be involved.
Contribute to drawing up own personal development plan
Once you have collated all your information, the next stage is to actually complete your Personal development plan. Clearly, different organisations will have different development plans based on their own systems and requirements. 31
3.3
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Below is an example of a personal development plan. Focus Area Area to develop Action to take Target to achieve Target date for completion Resources needed Staff Achievement
Figure 2.8 Example of a personal development plan
Key
■ Focus area – this is the general area a concern falls into, for example communication skills, practical skills, attendance and punctuality, report writing/record keeping skills, organisation, health and safety and so on. ■ Area to develop – this is the specific area which needs to be developed. Not to be written critically, but factually and objectively. ■ Action to take – what action needs to be taken to redress the area to be developed. This could be attendance on a course, shadowing another member of staff, improved outcomes or just more focus and attention.
Target to achieve – all targets should be SMART. S – Specific M – Measurable A – Achievable R – Realistic T – Time-based This makes them more likely to be successful as it is clear what is expected and by when. Target date for completion – this could be one overall date, or could be broken down in to frequent target dates to check progress at regular intervals.
■ Staff – the member of staff responsible for your target should clearly be defi ned so that they and you know who is responsible. It may be that different staff are responsible for different targets based on their skills and experience. ■ Achievement – here is where the review of your progress can be recorded. If the target has been met, then it may be signed off and new targets for the next time period can be set. If the target has not been met, then productive, non-critical discussions should follow as to why not to help to rectify and remove any problems to development.
■
Practice activity
3.3
Contribute to drawing up your own personal development plan
This activity enables you to practise drawing up your own personal development plan. 1. Ask for a blank copy of your work placement’s personal development plan. 2. Based on the feedback from the sources of support you requested in previous sections, complete the plan as fully as you can.
■
■ Resources needed – this could be fi nancially to pay for training or books, or it could be human resources such as staff who could support you with your targets, or it could be time for you to work on your areas to improve.
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2: Introduction to personal development
■ Skills – what we are able to do which we weren’t able to before. ■ Practices – how we now perform a task in an improved way to before.
We each need to take responsibility for our own development. Hence it is best to seek out learning activities that are enjoyable and that will most benefit the way we work. Learning is most effective if you use your preferred learning style. Learning styles are simply different ways of learning and include visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. Visual learners learn best through seeing, for example:
Figure 2.9 Preparing to agree your PDP!
LO4 Be able to develop knowledge, skills and understanding
4.1
■ they may need to see somebody’s body language and facial expression to fully understand an interaction ■ they may learn best from visual displays such as diagrams, illustrated text books, DVDs, fl ipcharts and hand-outs ■ they may take notes during a class or training session, to help them absorb the information.
Auditory learners learn best through listening, for example:
Show how a learning activity has improved your own knowledge, skills and understanding
If a learning activity has been completed, we need to evaluate whether it has improved our knowledge, skills and understanding. It is important to evaluate the outcomes: 1. 2. 3. So that the individual can reflect on how their abilities have improved. So that supervisors and managers can see evidence of improvements. So that the people who organise learning activities can see whether they have been useful or not.
■ they may enjoy discussions, talking things through and listening to what others have to say ■ they may be good at ‘reading between the lines’, for example they are alert to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances of speech ■ it may be that written information does not inspire them to learn.
Kinaesthetic learners learn through doing, for example:
As mentioned in section 2.1, development could have been in:
they may fi nd it hard to sit still for long periods.
■ ■ ■
they may prefer a hands-on approach they may need activity to learn
■ Knowledge – what we now know which we didn’t know before.
Figure 2.10 Different learning styles 33
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
2 Your awareness of, attitude to and relationships with the people with whom you work. Your skills, competences and work practices and whether they meet and maintain expected standards and Codes of Practice. Yours and others’ training and development needs. Any negative feelings or anxieties you have about your work.
Evidence activity
4.1
Evaluate how learning activities have affected practice
3
4 5
This activity enables you to demonstrate how learning activities have affected your practice. Think about five learning activities you have participated in that were intended to develop your work practice, and complete the table below to show how your practice has been affected as a result. Learning activity and learning style 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. What do you conclude about your learning activities, which have had the greatest impact on your work? 2. How can you apply this conclusion to your future learning and development? Effect on your practice?
Case Study
4.2
Adele
Adele recently considered her performance at work. She realised that she was really good at what she called ‘customer service’, she spoke on the phone really well and listened to what individuals had to say. She also realised though that sometimes she spoke in slang, and although not meaning to, she thought she might sound unprofessional. She also considered how, when she received emails from colleagues she didn’t really get on with, she usually deleted them without reading. Days later, they would come and find her to speak to her, making her dislike them even more. She reflected that if she read the email initially and responded, then they wouldn’t need to challenge her about it, and maybe this was a self-fulfilling prophecy she had created. Lastly, she reflected on her organisation skills. She felt that although she was excellent on a computer, her written skills were poor and her report writing at work at times illegible. Adele resolved to tackle all three areas of concern. 1. How has this reflection been beneficial to Adele? 2. What suggestions would you make for Adele? 3. Why would her care worker be pleased with Adele’s reflection?
Show how reflecting on a situation has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding
You looked at reflective practice earlier in this chapter and were given an opportunity to explain its importance in improving the service you provide as well as demonstrating your ability to reflect on your work practices. This section asks you to identify how your work has improved as a result of reflective practice. The reflection process requires you to think critically about areas such as the following and how each affects your work: 1 Your personal beliefs, values and experiences.
4.2
34
2: Introduction to personal development
Key term
Self-fulfilling prophecy means a
Practice activity
4.2
prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true.
Reflction enables you to identify learning and development needs in order that skills, competences and work practices continuously improve.
Show how reflecting on a situation has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding
Time to reflect
4.2
9
12 6
This activity enables you to practise reflecting on a situation that has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding. 1. Identify three work practices that are carried out at your workplace which you can reflect on. 2. Identify the strengths and areas to develop in each practice. 3. Describe how you think each could be improved. 4. Discuss your ideas for improvement with your line manager or supervisor. 5. If agreed, put your ideas for improvement into practice.
3
How are you getting on?
Most of the activities in this chapter have asked you to think about the effect of your behaviour and work practices on other people. This one looks at how you are affected. 1. Are there any aspects of your job role or other people’s work practices or behaviours that you don’t enjoy or can’t cope with? 2. How do you think things could be improved such that work became more enjoyable and manageable for you? 3. Who can you talk to about your concerns and suggestions for improvement?
Show how feedback from others has developed own knowledge, skills and understanding
Section 3.1 considered the different sources of support which could be used to assist development. In this section, consideration will be given to how to use this feedback to develop your own knowledge, skills and understanding.
4.3
35
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Case Study
4.3
List actions you could take and changes you could make to present in your PDP.
■ ■
Act on the feedback!
Yosef Practice activity
4.3
Yosef is a good natured member of the workforce. He has lots of good intentions but never gets around to sorting anything out; he can sometimes be a bit ‘haphazard’. He has done what his course has required, and has asked for feedback from varied sources of support. He has ‘stored’ this information at the bottom of his bag, which is screwed up and not organised. He has not looked at it since, as he thinks he is ‘doing great at work, it’s brilliant!’. If Yosef was actually to look at his feedback there are some positives, but there are also some significant concerns and areas where he needs to develop. 1. Explain why ignoring this could be a problem for Yosef. 2. Explain why Yosef not developing or recognising his ‘concerns’ is a problem for his care setting. 3. In the longer term, what may happen to Yosef?
Show how feedback from others has developed own knowledge, skills and understanding
This activity enables you to show how feedback from others has developed your own knowledge, skills and understanding. 1. Review the feedback you gained in Practice activity 3.1. 2. Summarise the strengths that the feedback suggests. 3. Summarise the areas you need to develop that the feedback suggests. 4. How has this feedback developed your own thoughts of your development? 5. What action do you plan to take from this feedback to develop your own knowledge, skills and understanding?
There is little point gaining feedback if one does little with it. If spoken, it needs to be listened to (and notes taken if needed). The feedback needs to be summarised into strengths (positives) and areas to develop (weaknesses).
■ ■ ■ ■
If written, it needs to be read fully.
Show how to record progress in relation to personal development
Your personal development plan is an ongoing record of your strengths, goals and objectives, learning and development needs, and achievements. In other words, it is a record of your progress in relation to your personal and professional development. Why record personal and professional development? Especially when time is at a premium and doing the learning can seem more important than noting down what we’ve learned? Recording is important for a number of reasons:
4.4
It needs to be stored appropriately.
■ The feedback needs to be analysed maturely and critically. Although at times it can be difficult to confront one’s own failings, little progress will be made if it is taken personally. ■ If it is felt that feedback is too critical or harsh, it is perfectly acceptable to challenge it and present your opinions and perspectives. Just because someone else has said it, it doesn’t ALWAYS mean it is right! ■
Discuss the feedback with your supervisor.
■ ■
it helps us reflect and review it reminds us of what we’ve learnt
36
2: Introduction to personal development
■ it helps us build our CV and provides information for potential employers ■ it provides the framework for appraisals and promotion boards ■ it’s a regulatory requirement for some professions it provides evidence when we need to prove competence, for example when applying for professional registration.
Records can take the form of a simple learning journal or log-book, on paper or in a computer fi le; and a ring-binder can be used for storing evidential statements, course notes, certificates, reading lists and lists of books, articles and so on that you’ve read and that have helped you. More formal personal development action plans and portfolios of evidence record learning in a more organised way, for example they might include summaries of evidence, personal references and cross-referencing of learning. Alternatively, you could use an on-line system, which will provide a set format guiding you in what to record and when to update your record. However you choose to record your development, make it fit with your circumstances, the expectations of your employer and any regulatory requirements you have to comply with. When thinking about how to record your personal development plan, bear in mind issues of confidentiality. If you refer by name to the people you work with, you must ensure confidentiality as per your organisation’s legal requirements. You might also want to bear in mind the location of your record and its accessibility. You need to update your record regularly, but you also need to be able to take it with you if you change jobs.
■
Key term
Professional registration demonstrates that you have met standards of competence and is a requirement for employment of a number of professionals.
Records of personal development should include information such as:
■ What you’ve learnt and when, how you learnt it and any evidence that verifies your learning. ■ Evidence to show how your learning has developed your practice, for example, statements from your line manager, colleagues and the people you work with. ■ How you’ve used support and in what ways you found it useful. ■ How well you feel that you are progressing towards your long-term goals. ■
How your learning needs are developing.
Practice activity
4.4
Show how to record your progress in relation to personal development
This activity enables you to practise showing how to record your progress in relation to your personal development. Create your own personal development plan, find an on-line pro-forma or get hold of one that is produced by your workplace. Start using it to keep a record of your personal development, updating it as regularly as you think appropriate or your workplace policy requires.
Figure 2.11 Completing and storing your PDP
37
Level 2 Diploma Health and Social Care
Assessment summary
Your reading of this chapter and completion of the activities will have prepared you to demonstrate your learning and understanding of the principles of safeguarding and protection in health and social care. Assessment of Learning Outcomes 2,3,4,5 and 6 must be assessed in a real work environment. To achieve the unit, your assessor will require you to:
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome : Understand what is required for competence in your work role by:
Assessment Criteria
1.1 describing the duties and responsibilities
1
of own role
See Evidence activity 1.1 on p. 20
1.2 identifying standards that influence the
way the role is carried out
See Evidence activity 1.2 on p. 23
1.3 describing ways to ensure that personal
attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work. See Evidence activity 1.3 on p. 24
Learning Outcome : Be able to reflect on own work activities by:
2
2.1 explaining why reflecting of practice is an
important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice
See Evidence activity 2.1 on p. 25
2.2 assessing how well own knowledge, skills
and understanding meet standards
See Evidence activity 2.2 on p. 26
2.3 demonstrating the ability to reflect on
work activities.
See Practice activity 2.3 on p. 27
Learning Outcome : Be able to agree a personal development plan by:
3
3.1 identifying sources of support for own
learning and development
See Practice activity 3.1 on p. 30
3.2 describing the process for agreeing a
personal development plan and who should be involved
See Practice activity 3.2 on p. 31
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2: Introduction to personal development
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome : Be able to agree a personal development plan by:
Assessment Criteria
3.3 contributing to drawing up own personal
3 4
development plan.
See Practice activity 3.3 on p. 32
Learning Outcome : Be able to develop knowledge, skills and understanding by:
4.1 showing how a learning activity has
improved on knowledge, skills and understanding
See Evidence activity 4.1 on p. 34
4.2 showing how reflecting on a situation has
improved own knowledge, skills and understanding
See Practice activity 4.2 on p. 35
4.3 showing how feedback from others has
developed own knowledge, skills and understanding
See Practice activity 4.3 on p. 36
4.4 showing how to record progress in
relation to personal development.
See Practice activity 4.4 on p. 37
Good luck!
Weblinks
Care Quality Commission Community Care Careers General Medical Council General Social Care Council General Teaching Council for England Government Careers Advice website Healthcare Careers Health Professionals Council Ofsted Nursing and Midwifery Council Social Care & Counselling careers Skills for Health Skills for Care and Development Government website (public services) www.cqc.org.u www.communitycare.co.uk/jobs/search www.gmc-uk.org ww.gscc.org.uk www.gtce.org.uk www.careersadvice.direct.gov.uk www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u www.hpc-uk.org www.ofsted.gov.uk www.nmc-uk.org www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u www.skillsforhealth.org.uk www.skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk www.direct.gov.uk
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