ABSTRACT

Foundation degrees are concerned with the development and assessment of knowledge and abilities for vocational as well as academic learning. Developing the skill of reflective practice is a fundamental element of being a professional. We are going to look at three activities in this chapter: reflective writing; producing a professional development portfolio; and creating a personal development plan. In some cases you may be asked, as part of your studies, to produce a professional development portfolio that includes a reflective journal and personal development plan. In other cases you may be asked for only one of these. As you found in Chapter 7 reflective writing provides an opportunity for you

to think critically about your own learning journey. We are told by our new foundation degree students that they often find this a difficult task as it is different from other forms of writing they have done before. It enables the documentation of your experiences, thoughts, questions, ideas and conclusions. It has benefits in that it offers the opportunity for you to challenge yourself about what you do. It also gives you the objectivity to do things differently and better, without seeing problems as a result of personal inadequacy. Keeping a reflective journal is challenging, but can help you to develop a scholarly approach to your practice and learning. This is an essential feature of studying for your foundation degree. This chapter considers how you can put together a portfolio. For many years,

portfolios have been an important element of education for the visual arts. Those of you who have achieved a National Vocational Qualification will be familiar with the idea of portfolio building. We will think about the contents that may be included across a wide range of curriculum areas for HE study. Foundation degree students we have worked with say that after they have completed their degree, they value their portfolio more than the individual assignments they have undertaken. This is because it is a tangible outcome from, and demonstration of, their learning. Finally, we will explore how to produce a personal development plan to improve your capacity to understand what and how you are learning; to review, plan and take responsibility for it.