The effectiveness of personal development planning

Abstract

ABSTRACTOver recent years, the development of strategies in schools and colleges to support individual student needs and encourage autonomous learning has influenced the work of most teachers and tutors. Personal Development Plans (PDPs) draw on good practice in careers guidance and on many of the educational initiatives introduced over the past decade, particularly, Records of Achievement (RoAs) and the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI). The focus of PDPs is a dialogue between student and tutor which clarifies choices, identifies goals and plans appropriate actions. This process aims to raise personal understanding and motivation and, ultimately, school effectiveness. This article arises from an evaluation of the Personal Development Plans (PDP) project in Wiltshire.The Wiltshire project was initiated in January 1992, and was a joint venture by the Careers Guidance Service, the local authority advisory service, TVEI and Wiltshire Training and Enterprise Council (TEC). These agencies perceived PDPs as a co‐operative project which, first, could make a highly positive contribution to the TEC's aim of promoting and sustaining a lifelong learning culture in the county; second, could provide the impetus to attain the National Targets for Education and Training (NTETs) which have been articulated for the year 2000 (DES, 1991) and hence, increase school effectiveness; and third, would ease the introduction of youth credits in the county by enabling 16‐year‐olds to make well‐informed decisions (Ruthven and Pike, 1993). Findings from the evaluation of Wiltshire PDPs are discussed. Positive strategies for supporting PDPs are suggested, the nature of the one‐to‐one dialogue is probed, and a hierarchy of concerns for practitioners is suggested.