Learning_Styles

Contents 1. Abstract page 2 2. Introduction page 3 3. Skills and Goals page 4 4. Time Management page 5 5. Skills Self Assessment page 6 6. Learning Styles Questionnaire page 7 7. Personal and Professional Goals page 9 8. Conclusion page 11 9. Bibliography page 12 Appendices Abstract This piece of work has been undertaken to allow the author an honest and in depth appraisal of their own strengths and weaknesses and looks at methods to alleviate as far as is possible the detrimental effects these may have on their abilities within the framework of the BA Honours in Education and Training. The author undertakes a series of self evaluation tests and critically analyses the results obtained. Many of the accepted methods are used including an abridged version of Honey and Mumford’s Learning Styles Inventory, an adaptation of Belbin’s Self Perception Inventory and a Skills Self Assessment. Many of the results are not surprising to the author however they do raise the profile of ICT shortfalls and allow for admission of some lack of reflection and pragmatism in their working field. The hoped for outcome of this self appraisal survey is to make the author aware of their own abilities how they can be improved. Design of a package of corrective and supportive measures and implementation of the author’s own action plan will aim towards the enhancement of their functionality and effectiveness. Introduction Having attended summer school as part of my Certificate in Education (Cert.Ed.) programme I was introduced to the idea of continuing beyond the completion of that particular study pathway and working towards the BA (hons) in Education and Training (B.A.). My initial reaction was one of self assessment and indecision as to whether I was even capable of study at such an academic level. However the introduction to this subject area and the support from my Cert. Ed. Tutor has brought me to the realisation that it is possible with dedication, planning and perseverance to achieve this programme. It has even begun to become enjoyable in some areas. In this first module it is my intention to carry out an audit of my skills, identify my personal and professional goals and look forward to how I intend to use the programme to help me achieve. This careful and fairly intense scrutiny of myself should identify areas of skill and strength and bring to the fore the usually carefully hidden areas of weakness. Currently I am employed by one of the largest colleges in the north of England in the position of a Main Grade band B lecturer. My particular area of expertise is in the School of Engineering Electrical section. Although the majority of my teaching load is technically based I also have the duty of Course Tutor for two groups of full time students and all the responsibilities that that position places upon me including tutorials under the auspices of Every Child Matters (ECM), individual target setting and pastoral care. I have also recently been appointed as Staff Mentor in a support role to new members of staff to facilitate and promote best practice in both teaching and their own subject specialism. My career to date has been driven largely by circumstance and the need to earn a salary to pay for the necessities in life. Never did the concept of being a professional teacher enter into any of my ideas and/or plans for my future. Beginning from leaving school and attending catering college to becoming a fully qualified electrician and on towards earning my Qualified Teacher and Learner Status(QTLS) is at first view a bizarre and twisted road. However twisted it may seem it has become obvious to me that every stage of my working life has brought me to the position I now hold and has enriched my abilities as a facilitator to all my students. Skills and Goals It is not often in life one is truly in a position to reflect upon their past and look into their own future. This piece of work is my attempt to put down on paper my own thoughts, reflections and long term personal goals. Having undertaken a commitment to study on the B.A. program I felt it only sensible to undertake a full and frank appraisal of my strengths and to acknowledge my areas of weakness. It was fairly obvious that if I wished to achieve the goal of study of this high level 5 qualification it would be necessary to have firm foundations. Indeed I did not feel at all comfortable with the prospect of three years study and evaluation without this information. I would dearly love to achieve a 1st class Honours degree but with all the other commitments in my life this particular goal could be difficult to achieve. Work, social responsibilities and family life all take their share of my available time and referring to the student handbook (see appendix A page 18) a consistent 80% plus on coursework will take a gargantuan effort on my part. And so in the following pages I will look at the areas which I believe will be of value and look towards addressing these weaknesses. Time Management (see appendix B) Upon reflection I know very well that time management is one of my weaknesses and I have already started to put in place strategies to address my short comings. I have sourced an assignment planner (www.deakin.edu/studentlife) which has already proven to be a valuable tool in planning and time control for my deadlines, enabling me to plan each assignment from start to hand in with precise structure and date limitations for each stage. I also intend to begin using Microsoft Project software with input from one of my work colleagues and work team members. Project allows for the chronological planning and breakdown of time critical issues such as assignments or work requisites and will enable me to visually check my own progress towards both formative and summative deadlines. The use of Project will also allow me to address other weaknesses in Information and Computer Technology (ICT) which I will discuss later. It is also my intention to draw upon the social framework around me in the home and support from colleagues and fellow students who I feel sure will join with me in creating a mutual support framework to enable us all to achieve to our intended abilities. Self Perception Inventory (see appendix C) Having undertaken an abridged version of Belbin’s Self Perception Inventory (1981) it became apparent that according to the results given I have very distinct areas of strength and weakness. My results indicate that I have very strong Shaper and Resource-Investigator traits whilst showing very weak Co-ordinator, Completer-Finisher and Monitor-Evaluator abilities. Having considered the evidence and results I have concluded that overall the results do not show a completely accurate picture. Whilst I do agree with the areas of strength it is also my belief that the results showing weak Co-ordinator skill is incorrect. Some of the qualities of the Co-ordinator being “positive rather than negative thinkers”, “trusting by nature” and “create enthusiasm in those around them” are all well within and part of my work and social life. My role of Mentor to our entire department’s new teaching staff reinforces my own view of myself as being a positive thinker and being able to create enthusiasm in others both of these being traits associated with the Co-ordinator skills base. Perhaps undertaking a full test would render a better overall diagnostic tool. Skills Self Assessment Audit (see appendix D) The next self assessment tool I used was to undertake a Skills Self Assessment Audit which looked at my personal views on my skills base in areas such as communication (written and oral), teamwork, numeracy and personal effectiveness. This assessment showed my strengths as having confidence and drive and being able to work under pressure (a throwback to my days as a chef perhaps') and my weak areas being inconsiderate of others during teamwork, reflection on problem solving and some I.C.T. areas. The I.C.T. weakness is also corroborated by the results of the I.C.T. skills audit I undertook (appendix E), showing up that I have weaknesses in the areas of using formulae, mail-merge and database. This in honesty I can acknowledge as a fairly true appraisal of my work personality and as such it is my intention to address these problems by engaging the help of a work colleague who I believe to be very strong in all of these areas (see action plan Appendix F). Honey and Mumford’s Learning Style Questionnaire (appendix G) Having undertaken this questionnaire on more than one occasion I have always considered the results to be a fairly accurate portrayal of my personality. The scores I received after taking it again: • Activist (16) • Reflector (6) • Theorist (8) • Pragmatist (17) portray me very firmly as a Pragmatist/Activist, learning best from carrying out something in practise, wanting concepts applicable to work and being a realist. All of these points are true when I consider my own preferences and indeed I feel sure most engineers would feel the same. Activists like new experiences, are open minded and accept new ideas readily and can become bored when a situation becomes established. Once again all of these are descriptions of my outlook and although I can sometimes act on impulse I believe that my experience to date enables me to make these on the spot decisions. Life skills and common sense can go a long way to being a strength when it comes to dealing with every day minor problems. My scores show that my weak areas are in the Reflector/Theorist realm and once again I have to agree that I find theorising and reflecting a necessary chore and not a part of any project that I enjoy. Mezirow suggested "Perspective transformation is the process of becoming critically aware of how and why our presuppositions have come to constrain the way we perceive, understand, and feel about our world” Mezirow, 1990: pg 14 My action plan addresses these short comings to an extent by my working closely with a team colleague who I have identified as very strong in the Reflector/Theorist field. . Indeed Mezirow (1990) also suggested that” individuals can bring about their own transformation through a process of critical reflection” and so with the input from my colleague and referral to my action plan this is to become one of my main aims. Now that I have begun to understand that to succeed at the level required for the BA and to proceed through three years of study to complete my Honours level then I must address my weaker areas and continually look for ways to improve my own performance. I needed to recognise my weaknesses in ICT and put in place positive strategies to overcome any impact on my skills base, consider the implications of low Reflector/Theorist scores and include these in my action plan (appendix F) for progression and development. Personal and Professional Goals My main goal at this moment is probably quite predictably to achieve my BA Hons with a satisfactory (to me) level of achievement. My secondary goal, being my wish to progress my career towards that of an inspection role, is to be undertaken within my college of employment and lead eventually to my application towards a position within the Ofsted inspection framework. I do however see completing the B.A. as a step in my development towards the secondary goal of Inspector to both underpin my knowledge and to give credibility to my evaluations. I am often seen as a confident, outgoing and sociable person but can on occasion, particularly in groups of highly educated people, begin to feel insecure in my own intellectual abilities. The increase in intellectual thinking and use of vocabulary has begun already and I now enjoy researching theories on education and have begun to discuss these with my work team members. I do not have any desire to become a manager in an educational field and see myself as a facilitator to the department and perhaps even the whole engineering school upon completion and as I progress through the course. Having undertaken a close skills audit I now feel much more confident of finding the way forwards to enable me to achieve. Actions required to enable this include and skills development and dealing with the social constraints put on my time. Work commitments are inevitable and fairly rigid and to take away my social time would be detrimental to my own feelings of wellness and add to pressures already imposed by the pathway as regarding assignment schedules. Activity management using both Project and assignment planners will play a very important role enabling me to both keep abreast of work commitments and even reminding me not to ignore the social aspects of my life. Support from colleagues and family will hopefully help to negate the inevitable stresses and strains of undertaking this venture. In respect of module choices available for the Degree the first year is a preset group of assignments and as such gives little room for manoeuvre. The second year consisting of ten possible modules opens up a gamut of possibilities and after careful consideration it is my intention to undertake: • Improving Teaching and Learning DHA0320 • Quality Assurance Systems in Education and Training DHN0620 • Mentoring in Education, Training and Professional Contexts DHA3120 All three of these modules fit very well with my chosen career path of Inspection and also support my subordinate role of Mentor to new staff in my department. These modules will also widen my understanding of quality provision to our learners and enable me to feed back new, interesting, engaging and innovative procedures to my peer group within my sphere of influence. My action plan (appendix F) focuses on my long term goals of attaining an Inspection role and achievement of the B.A., and having already approached the Head of Quality he has approved me to accompany one of the college inspectors during the next round of internal reviews. The inspector also being a certified Ofsted Inspector will give me a great insight into the machinations of and responsibilities placed upon someone at that level. Conclusion Generally I have found this assignment quite daunting and intrusive in a reflective way. As I mentioned earlier in this piece it is not often we stop, take stock and honestly assess our own failings and even rarer that we accept our weaknesses and find tools to allow us to rectify or work towards improvement and the vaunted nirvana of “self actualisation” Maslow(1945) heralded as perfection. Recognising my preferred learning styles will help me to find ways to achieve my desired development and also prevent me from trying to impose my preferred styles on my learners. Only once you are aware of what you are can you prevent yourself imposing your way on others. There are areas I now know that can be problematic for me and these I have sought to address by close working with suitable colleagues in my course team. The undertaking of developmental tutorials will reinforce my weaknesses enabling me to underpin my abilities and prepare me for the rigours of year three and both the Empirical and Reflective projects which form the basis of the Honours level study. The research for this module has allowed me to fully understand the work involved, the subject matter and the life changing possibilities that the B.A. (hons.) holds for my future progression. Indeed it is with some interest that I look forward to seeing how I will reflect on the three years of work and study that is just beginning. Bibliography Mezirow, Jack (1990), Transformative Development of Adult Learning, San Francisco Jossy Bass Appendices A- Student Handbook 2006-07 B- Time management sheet C- Self Perception Inventory D- Skills Self Assessment Audit E- Honey and Mumfords Learning Styles Questionnaire F- Action PlanLearni