Personal and Professional Development Statement

And Professional Development - Personal Statement Example Before starting a new course or new assignment I always attempt to reflect upon both my personal as well as professional practice. I cherish the way I have managed to nurture my career. I haven't always been a teacher at the college; I was originally employed as a gardener to maintain the college's numerous football pitches, trees and flower beds. My resume did reveal, however, several years teaching experience in Japan and an extensive background in engineering. It occurred to the administration one fine day that I could perhaps nurture the human mind better than plants. We need to revisit our prior experiences and knowledge to illustrate that we have already taken the first difficult step towards evolution. 'Maximizing an experience' is, therefore, a progressive and reflective task that can be used to action plan further development. I wish to augment upon my personal and professional development by pursuing an honours degree. I believe that the learning processes and the learning skills needed to obtain the degree are more important than the degree itself. I therefore aim to achieve more through the process of acquiring knowledge. Subsequently, the learnt skills can be transferred to both personal and professional contexts. The desire now to achieve attainment at a higher... Though I do not believe that intelligence is linked with qualifications, yet I am certain that the presence of degrees allows constructing ideas and verifying them in a professional and responsible manner. My yearning to be a teacher asks me to be qualified as well; subsequently, when I am qualified, I expect to feel a sense of intellectual enlightenment as well. This would help me develop knowledge, and perhaps spread the light through educating my pupils. Reflection here appears also to have a special learning value in that acquired learning, when the reflected upon issue will generate deeper learning vis--vis the relevance to the learner. To further my ability to teach, I will thus need to further develop my ability to reflect critically in a range of situations. Equally important, the course will continue to provide me with a selection of teaching and learning tools that can be used not only in a classroom environment but also in my personal life. Vital Areas When reflecting upon assignments that have given me confidence and a sense of worth, there are two projects which I have enjoyed more than others. These were the independent studies module, and the organisational module. These developed a level of insight and knowledge within me, which I had not experienced otherwise. Another reflective challenge was the completion of an audit. I found that this form of self-evaluation relies upon self-perception or self-awareness and a comparison of self with others. The audit has identified three perceived areas and skills within me, which need further development, namely: (a) Note Taking (b) Reflecting on my experience (c) Organizing time and myself I have realized that these three are not my