Personal Development Essay

Personal development covers activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitate employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations. Not limited to self help the concept involves formal and informal activities for developing others in roles such as teacher, guide, counselor, manager, life coach or mentor. When personal development takes place in the context of institutions, it refers to the methods, programs, tools, techniques, and assessment systems that support human development in the individual level in organizations.

Personal development may include the following activities: • improving self awareness. • improving self knowledge.

Professional development may also come in the form of pre-service or in-service professional development programs. These programs may be formal, or informal, group or individualized. Individuals may pursue professional development independently, or programs may be offered by human resource departments. Professional development on the job may develop or enhance process skills, sometimes referred to as leadership skills, as well as task skills. Some examples for process skills are 'effectiveness skills', 'team functioning skills', and 'systems thinking

• Coaching - to enhance a person’s competencies in a specific skill area by providing a process of observation, reflection, and action. • Communities of Practice - to improve professional practice by engaging in shared inquiry and learning with people who have a common goal • Lesson Study - to solve practical dilemmas related to intervention or instruction through participation with other professionals in systematically examining practice • Mentoring - to promote an individual’s awareness and refinement of his or her own professional development by providing and recommending structured opportunities for reflection and observation • Reflective Supervision - to support, develop, and ultimately evaluate the performance of employees through a process of inquiry that encourages their understanding and articulation of the rationale for their own practices • Technical Assistance - to assist individuals and their organisation to improve by offering resources and information, supporting networking and change