Personal Development Planning
Jane McNeil

Personal Development Planning (PDP) is a framework to help students reflect on their experiences and set goals in all areas of their lives. An underlying assumption is that students have many opportunities to develop while at University, inside and outside the curriculum. PDP is also predicated on the belief that, while a student’s level of engagement is their choice and their responsibility, guided planning can help them to develop their potential.  PDP is holistic and can help students in their studies, in career planning and in other aspects of their lives.  It aims to help students to:

• Become increasingly independent in reflection and goal setting.
• Manage their own development.
• Articulate knowledge and skills and transfer these to different contexts.

Texts

• NTU regulations and guidance on PDP
• Clegg, S 2004. Critical readings: Progress files and the production of the autonomous learner. Teaching in Higher Education. 9(3) pp287-298
• Moon, J A 2004. A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: theory and practice. London: Routledge

How to…

• Support students in Personal Development Planning
  

Toolkits
An online Personal Development Planner is available to students at NTU and includes templates, exercises, advice and a CV Builder. It can be found via the Resources section in VLP (NTU login required).

The Careers Service can offer support for PDP, in terms of career management skills. There are materials for students on the Careers site, plus the service can also offer input to programme induction and preparation for placements.

Case studies

• The Centre for Recording Achievement has a substantial collection of case studies for PDP in higher education. Topics include: ePortfolios, assessment, support, reflection, evaluation.
• HEA resources on PDP

You might also be interested in…

Programme design in the Academic Standards and Quality Handbook.