Week 1: 1st - 7th May (Tutorial: Tuesday 4th May - 19:00 Hrs) + Activity 1.2
There are three distinct ways in which you will be asked to demonstrate your reflective practice in this module:
- Activities in all units will ask you to reflect on your own experience and practice in relation to the ideas, concepts and theories you have studied. You may be asked to share your reflections with fellow students.
- In Units 6 and 7 you will study coaching and mentoring. You will be asked to find ways to practise coaching or mentoring skills in the workplace and your reflective practice of these skills will form an important part of your end-of-module assessment (EMA).
- You will be encouraged to keep a record of your own continuing professional development by keeping your professional development plan and record up to date.
The remainder of this section will explain what you are expected to do in each of these areas.
Reflections on experience and practice
The activities in each unit of this module are designed to help you to understand the materials you are studying, and you will sometimes be asked to go to the tutor group forum (TGF) to share your responses. Where the activities ask you to relate the theories you have studied to your practice and to share your reflections on these, this will provide an opportunity to see how these ideas and theories can be contextualised in different ways and to share perspectives which can be very varied. These discussions will be an important part of your learning on this module and you are strongly encouraged to play a full part in them.
You will also need to keep careful notes of your own reflections on your application of theory to practice. These will help you to prepare for module assessments and can be kept in any form you choose, whether electronically or in hard copy. You have the option, if you choose to, of capturing your reflections in your personal module blog. The B867 blog can be found in the Resources panel to the right of the Study Planner, and guidance on the use of this blog can be found in the Computing Guide: Module blog. The default setting for this blog will be ‘private’ but you will be able to export the content of the blog for use in assessments.
Developing coaching and mentoring skills
In Units 6 and 7 of this module you will examine how coaching and mentoring can be used to support individual and organisational learning and you will explore the ideas about learning and development which underpin these approaches. You will also learn some coaching and mentoring skills and you will be expected to find opportunities to practise these. You may choose to do this in an organisation where you are employed, in a voluntary organisation or even in a social organisation to which you belong. You should, however, make sure that the subject of the coaching or mentoring activity is related to an individual’s work within an organisation. You will not be prepared in Units 6 and 7 to offer general life coaching (that is, helping individuals to manage issues in their personal lives) or career coaching (helping individuals to manage their careers). You will find further guidance in the Module Guide on how to go about setting up your coaching and mentoring practice sessions and the dates within which these sessions should be arranged.
You should record your objectives for this skill development and your reflections on your practice in your skills portfolio. You can keep your skills portfolio (which was first introduced in B863 The human resource professional) in whatever format you choose. These can include Word files on your computer, using an online storage option, using a blog to record progress or simply handwriting your notes. We have, however, provided a skills portfolio template which you may find helpful in keeping your notes.
Keeping a record of your continuing professional development
HRD professionals, like many other professionals, are expected to demonstrate a commitment to regularly updating their skill levels through a process of continuing professional development (CPD). Your professional development plan can be in any format you choose but should always include a clear statement of what you want to achieve, with a time frame and an indication of how you will measure your progress towards this. You will probably find it easiest to keep this online, but this is a matter of personal choice.
If you work for an organisation that asks you to create a document like this as part of your appraisal process, you could adapt the one from your own organisation. Alternatively, you may use this professional development plan template, which is based on one offered by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Your professional development record can also be in a format of your choice and you may already be in the habit of keeping a record. We have provided a suggested professional development record template, which is based on a template offered by the CIPD, and again you may find it most practical to keep this online.
You will not be required to produce your professional development plan and record for assessment purposes in this module. However, if you are seeking professional membership of the UK-based Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), you will be expected to produce your plan and your record and it is a requirement of the institute that you are able to do so. Details of the CIPD’s continuing professional development policy is available on the CIPD website.
In Activity 1.2 you will spend some time thinking about how you will manage your reflective learning as you study this module.
Activity 1.2: Managing your reflective learning
Conclusion
In this unit you have read about the structure and content of this module and you have also read the Module Guide and Assessment Guide, which give you more details of the learning outcomes of the module and the way you will be assessed on your studies.
You have studied practice-based learning as a way of applying the materials you study to a workplace context and you have considered how to use reflective learning to support your learning in this module. Templates have been provided for your professional development plan and record and your skills portfolio, all of which are important tools in supporting your continuing professional development. You have also read about the coaching and mentoring practice sessions which you will be asked to carry out in Units 6 and 7.
