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Personal development planning: a voyage of discovery

9 mins read Mentoring, reflection and PDPs
Personal development plans (PDPs) are a regulatory requirement for all DCPs, but what should they include? The PDP described here is based on some of the theories of development planning and it is hoped that you may find it useful in making your own PDP a more comprehensive and valuable tool

During my first undergraduate year at the University of Kent, Module WL 304 Lifelong Learning presented me with my first real opportunity for developing a comprehensive professional and academic style of personal development plan (PDP), which was vastly different from the collection of CPD certificates that I had previously called a PDP. That PDP has now evolved into an invaluable tool that underpins and drives my professional practice; it encourages me towards honest self-appraisal and reflection, which I use as a means of creating new, challenging and logical development goals (Cottrell, 2003:2–3; Jasper, 2006: 10).

In order to do this, the new style PDP combines a number of theoretical models, including SWOT analysis (strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats), the GROW model (goal, reality, opportunities, what next), SMARTer targeting (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, evaluated and reviewed), as well as reflective practice. It has 12 sections, which are illustrated in Table 1.

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