Personal Development in Adult Social Care Settings Persuasive

1. Explain what reflective practice is (1.1.1)
It means that you stop and think about your practice; the process of reflecting on something you have done or a task you have undertaken. You may look at them from different points of view, you think about what went well, what went not so well and how you can improve it in the future.

2. Explain the importance of reflective practice in continuously improving the quality of service provided (1.1.2) Reflective practice is essential in order to carry out our work to the highest standards. It is essential in care work as it means how we can learn from our experience. The social care sector is continuously changing, there are new standards, and however the service users also change. Experience can be beneficial when it is a good practice, a positive experience, or if it is a bad one but it is reflected and consequently changed and improved. Reflective practice identifies the area you need to improve on, it helps to clarify the aims and objectives, helps to staff to see their work in a wider context, provides access to the views of other team members.

3. Explain how standards inform reflective practice in adult social care (1.1.3) Standards, such as the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers tell us how we should work. We can use them to think about the way we work and we can ensure us against them.

4. Describe how own values, belief systems and experiences may affect working practice (1.1.4) Everyone has their own beliefs, values and preferences. When we create friendships, we usually choose people who share our interests and beliefs. However, professional relationships with service users are not the same. As professionals, we are required to provide the same quality support to all. It is not always easy. We need to recognize what we value, what beliefs we personally have and we must understand that they may or may not affect the way we work.

5. Explain how people may react and respond to receiving constructive feedback (2.2.1) Constructive feedback is a feedback that is helpful. If praising, the acceptance is usually positive and responsive. However if the feedback is not so positive people can react different way. People may be shocked or surprised; they may feel anger or annoyance, some people just ignore criticism. Others may take it well and they like the advice on how to improve their practice.

6. Explain the importance of seeking feedback to improve practice and inform development (2.2.2) Feedback is important as it sets up targets; the person knows what to improve. It motivates people and helps them to focus. It helps identifying the strengths and weaknesses. It expresses what is important to the organisation and the job and reduces uncertainties in people.

7. Explain the importance of using feedback in improving own practice (2.2.3) During our work we might think we have done a good job, especially if we have been working in a workplace for a long time. We might carry on our practice without changing anything. Feedback from those people who are working with us can give us another perspective. We should listen to what they think and consider their opinions.

8. Describe the components of a personal development plan (3.3.1) There are OBJECTIVES where we can identify what we want to be able to do or to do better. ACTIONS: the methods we use to achieve our objectives.

CRITERIA for success: the way we review and measure our improvement. ACHIEVEMENT DATE: we should the period of time by when we expect to achieve the objectives. IMPLEMENTATION: is about practice, how we practise and apply what we learn.

9. Identify sources of support for planning and reviewing on development (3.3.2) Line manager: they could help us by answering any concerns I have about work. (supervision and yearly appraisal) Colleagues: you can do shadowing and talk to others to get guidance on things. Trainings: internal and external trainings, qualifications.

Meetings: we have staff meetings and key worker meetings where progress and daily things are discussed.

10. Explain the role of others in the development of a personal development plan in identifying: (3.3.3) a. strengths
b. areas for development

With our line manager we hold supervisions and appraisals. There are feedbacks from our colleagues, service users and their families, from other professionals and trainers. These feedbacks help us to identify strengths and areas of development.

We set up objectives and then we could decide what we use to achieve these objectives. There are courses we can apply for and then we put them into practice. We may also need to undertake qualifications that are relevant to our job role. The personal development and learning should be regularly discussed with the line manager and we will need to refresh training to keep skills up to date.

10. Explain the benefits of using a personal development plan to identify ongoing improvements in knowledge and understanding (3.3.4) With a personal development plan we could check our strengths, weaknesses, what we need to improve, what we need to learn, what development we want to achieve, what trainings and helps we need. As it is recorded and regularly discussed it shows how close we are to our goals. It highlights our skills and encourage to develop.