RAPPORT
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2018)
• “to become more effective,
independent and confident self-
directed learners
• to understand how they are learning
and relate their learning to a wider
context
• to improve their general skills for study
and career management
• to articulate personal goals and
evaluate progress towards their
achievement
• to encourage a positive attitude to
learning throughout life.” (Gough et
al., 2003, p.8-9)
One key element of PDP, then, is that it is
a process (QAA, 2009). Like McEntee
(2013), the OU defines five stages of this
process, as seen in Figure 2, provided to
students via the OU Help centre in the
section entitled ‘Develop your career’
(Open University, 2018b).
Figure 2: Stages within the OU PDP
process
While QAA (2009) suggests a cyclical
process or learning cycle in relation to
PDP, based on Kolb’s (1984) experiential
learning model, other authors (Jackson,
2005) have pointed out that Self-
Regulated Learning (SRL) provides a
research-based explanation of the
processes that underlie PDP and helps
us understand the dispositions, thinking
and behaviours that PDP promotes.
There are different models of SRL.
According to the cyclical model proposed
by Zimmermann (2000) there are three
phases in SRL: Forethought,
Performance and Self-reflection, as can
be seen in Figure 3. These phases
closely match the PDP functions:
• Forethought – (Identifying / Planning )
• Performance – (Action, Recording)
• Self-reflection – (Reviewing,
Evaluating).
Figure 3: The three phases of SRL
Forethought
Self-
reflection
Performance
A second key element of PDP is that its
holistic framework comprises three
overlapping areas of students’ learning:
personal, academic, and career and
employability (Figure 4). This relates to
the QAA’s (2009) definition of PDP as a
process undertaken by students to reflect
on their own learning and to plan for their
personal, educational and career
development. It is an inclusive process.
Figure 4: The three overlapping areas of
PDP – academic, personal, and career and
employability
Academic
Personal
Career &
employability
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