PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER … 03 22.pdf · Teachers personal and professional development ―aims to provide for teachers authentic learning experiences in the

DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION

SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1

215

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

STUDENTS IN EDUCATIONAL SCIENCIES

Anca Luștrea

Assist. Prof., PhD, West University of Timișoara

Abstract:Academic activities in the university training are mainly focused on the development and

acquisition of skills in the chosen profession. Personal development is a process of training and lifelong

learning, where people evaluate their skills and qualities, its objects and personal purposes, in order to

exploit their potential at the optimal level. The personal development integrates the professional

development because employment is a major component of the life of any of us. This study aims to assess

the skills of planning the personal and professional development of future teachers by establishing career

objectives, facilitating the identification of resources, obstacles and set up a plan of action to achieve the

objectives. The proposed activities were conducted on a group of 60 students of the West University of

Timisoara, Department of Educational Sciences, specializing in becoming teachers. The results show that

students mainly fix career goals and have the ability to foresee the necessary resources and to action plan

the professional development.

Keywords: educational career, professional planning, personal development, career plan

1. Introduction

Academic learning activities in higher education context are mainly focused on

professional training, the universities are education institutions in which the main objective is to

form competent professionals.

Berdibayeva, Kalmatayeva, Tulebayeva analyzed the quality of the educational process

of future teachers from the perspective of success: ―Quality of educational process in many

respects defines success of a person in the future professional work and in his interaction with

other people. In connection with this to quality of a higher education are imposed as well new

requirements, among which requirements not only to professional, but as well to personal



216

formation and to development of a student – a future teacher.‖ (Berdibayeva, Kalmatayeva,

Tulebayeva, 2012, p. 1174)

Personal and professional development are concepts analyzed in multiple studies in

various professional domains, educational, economic, clinical, organizational. All perspectives

focuses on the relation between them, and are seen as a continuum in the context of educational

training.

―Personal and professional development is a process of recursive integration involving

an openness to experience, responsibility towards clients and towards themselves as well as

critical analysis of personal life experience. It means knowing yourself and understanding how

your experience shapes your subsequent encounters with the world. Professional development

involves self-development. Personal and professional development is not a one-off event or

activity. As the experience cycle implies, personal and professional development is continuous

and ongoing (Cross & Papadoupoulos, 2001)‖.(Nastasa, Cazan, 2012, p.781)

"The career plan is just the result of self-assessment process of individuals, determination

of career goals and conditions for their achievement"(Kachanakova, 2003, apud. Chlebikova et

al, 2015 p.250).

―The professional development training has two types of objectives, personal

optimization and professional empowerment which determine gaining, training and improving

certain professional skills.‖ (Nastasa, Cazan, 2012, p.782)

Teachers personal and professional development ―aims to provide for teachers authentic

learning experiences in the sense that it builts on existing knowledge and encourages them to

reflect on and to regulate their own learning in a context that stimulates the collaborative and

ethical attitudes. As well, TPPD can be understood as a process of empowerment. The process of

empowerment means the transfer from a state of helplessness to a state where there is greater

control of life, fate and environment (Shor, I., Freire, P., 1990). This process involves changes in

three dimensions: people's feelings and abilities; the life of the collective to which they belong;

and professional actions that intervene in the situation.‖ (Potolea, Toma, 2014, p.116)

This research was conducted based on the work done with the students in the POSDRU

project, POSDRU/161/2.1/G/141573, Incepe o cariera de success (Begin a successful career).

Lookinginto the project purposes, we can say that itaims to improve theprofessional skills



217

offuture graduatesso that theyhavepractical knowledge, tools andskills neededforoptimal

integrationinto the labor market.

The members of the target and research grouparestudents, so theirmain purpose oftheir

activity is professional development, during which they acquiredtheoretical and practical

knowledgenecessary to conduct thecareerthey chose(Mathias andJackson, 1994). Personal

development isa process oftraining andlifelonglearning, where peopleevaluate theirskills

andqualities, itsobjectsandpersonalpurposes, in order to exploit their optimalpotential.

Thepersonal developmentintegratesprofessional developmentbecauseemploymentis

amajorcomponentof the day to day lifeof any of us. University trainingdo notexplicitlyaim

thepersonaldevelopment, butby addressing theprofessional developmentaims

toachieveimplicitpersonaldevelopment. It does thison two levels:

• Through professional development as part of personal development;

• By implicit personal development achieved in the process of self-discovery, career planning

and self monitoring.

University studiescontribute tothe professional trainingbecause it givesfuture

professionals:

internshipsprograms, in which they developpractical experiencein their chosen

professional field;

a counseling and guidanceprogram, in which they have a thebetterchanceforself-

knowledge, awarenessof theirskillsand the degreeof compatibility betweenskills, interests

and profession-chosen profession;

a mentoring program, in which studentsdesign theirowncareerplan, which

helpstheorientation, planning and monitoring approachtocareerbuilding.

Personal developmentinvolvesself-awareness, awareness of their ownpersonality

characteristics, aptitudesand attitudeswe havetowards ourselves, othersorprofession. In the

project"Begin a successful career" the self-discoveryprocesswas ensured throughpsychological

testingsegment, where the assessment was performed with personality testsand questionnairesof

interestsand skills.

All the studentswere psychologicalevaluatedusingthree psychological tests:



218

PON mental speed test captures mental perceptual speed and is a predictor of the general

level of intelligence and concentrated attention.

DECASPersonality Inventoryaimed at assessing the personality traits in the BigFive

model, by thefivedimensions of personality: openness,extraversion, conscientiousness,

agreeabilityandemotional stability. The studentsreceived thestandardprofile, forsituations

whereit is desired the detailedpsychologicalcharacterizationof the persontested,

whichcontainsa detailed description ofpsychologicalcharacterizationinten directionsaimed

at: orientation in society; style of interaction with people, the dominant type of emotional

experiences; reaction in stressful situations; reaction in conflict situations; cognitive style;

attitude towards work; the involvement in tasks and type of character.

SDSinventory, an assessment questionnairebasedon the Holland famoustypology of

vocational interests. It rates the interestsand skillsrelating themto theprofession-and

provide the compatibility level betweenthe chosen professionand the professional

interests.

Research and target group students benefited from the psychological evaluation, because

the information they received helped them to self-knowledge the general characteristics of

personality, which favors the personal development and the professional one. After obtaining the

personality profilesthestudentsbenefited fromadvice and psychologicalguidanceoffered byproject

experts. Inthis processtheyacknowledge their strong and weak personality points as helpful or

harmful to theirpersonal and professional development.

Inthementoring process, under the guidance of a mentor, they went through the stages

ofdeveloping acareerplan which offersthe benefit ofplanning and monitoring the achieving of

competence andobtain a professional accomplishment.

PIDC careerdevelopment planwas the maintool for the mentor-student team. The initial

phasewasan analysis of the training needs ofstudentsin the formof a SWOT analysis. In another

article Luştrea (2015, pp. 11-12) present the results of the SWOT analyses. ―The results

substantiate that the majority of the factors who have an impact on reaching the professional

competence listed by students are internal (strengths and weaknesses). The majority of the

internal factors listed by students are strengths (60%), and only 40 % are weaknesses. The results

show that the prospective teachers perceived more factors helpful to achieving the objective then



219

harmful ones and the main internal factor the students perceived as influencial for reaching

professional competence are the strengths. The personal strengths perceived by students refer

only to pedagogical attitudes (toward others, profession and self). The most frequent personal

attitudes toward others are patience and sociability. The most frequent personal attitudes toward

profession are ambition and interest. The most frequent personal attitudes toward self are self

confidence and optimism. The personal weaknesses perceived by students also refer only to

pedagogical attitudes (toward others, profession and self). The most frequent personal attitudes

toward others considered weakness is criticism. The most frequent personal attitudes toward

profession are negligence and disorganization. The most frequent personal attitudes toward self

considered as weakness are poor emotional balance and fear of failure.‖

2. Specific aims

Given the important role of professional development through an action plan, we sought to

assess the abilities of the prospective teachers to plan for a career, establish goals and plan for

activities. We address this specific aims:

Assess the ability of establish career and personal development goals

Evaluate the capacity of identifying the human resources helpful in making a career

Determine the capacity of establish the steps to be made in reaching career goals

Assess the ability to foresee the obstacles which may arise in reaching the career

objectives.

3. Research hypothesis

We presume that:

1. The prospective teachers establish in the action plan more career goals than personal

ones.

2. The students focus mainly on the performance goals and less on competence-based goals.

3. The majority of the helpful human resources identified by the students are within the

faculty staff

4. The main steps in career planning listed by the students refer to time management

5. The main obstacles in reaching the career goals foreseen by the students refer to personal

personality traits.

4. Methods



220

4.1 Participants

In the research group are included 60 students from West University Timisoara

specialized in educational sciences, aged between 18 and 56 years old, with a mean age of 24.8.

Lot gender distribution reveals 59 women and 1 man. The participants are from Special

Education, General pedagogy and Preschool and primary teaching field. They are students in the

first and second year of studies.

4.2 Methodology

In a mentoring process, under the guidance of a mentor, the students were ask to go

through the stages ofdeveloping acareerplan which offersthe benefit ofplanning and monitoring

the achieving of competence andobtain a professional accomplishment.

PIDC careerdevelopment planwas the maintool for the mentor-student team. The initial

phasewasan analysis of the training needs ofstudentsin the formof a SWOT analysis.

Itthen was proceeded toestablishthe short-term(1 year) and long term(2 years) objectives

and to discuss the careergoals(factors, variables thatmayhelpgeneral aspects of theobjectives);

the human resourcesfacilitatingtheprocess (who I knowwhoknows me) whocan help meachieve

mygoals, how Ican help youdo this, whatmust I doitto help me; forecasting the obstaclesthat may

occur(what obstacles exist,howtheycanbeovercome,the solutions).

Then it was realizedthe action plan for achievingthose objectives,foreach

targetpointplanning the steps thatcan be made. Also, they anticipatedany obstaclesthat may

ariseand solutionsthat can be adoptedtoeliminate them.

5. Results

In order to test null hypothesis 1, that states that ―The prospective teachers do not

establish in the action plan more career goals than personal ones‖ we calculated the frequencies

of the professional and personal goals listed by the students.

In table 1 are presented the frequencies of the professional goals listed by the students.

The results shows that the majority of the short time goals (33%) refer to financial aspects of

taking a higher education program - To keep my scholarship student status or to become a

scholarship student, and the least frequent refer to a component of competence - To read the

recommended books. The majority of the long time goals refer to be certified as a teacher (42%),

and the least frequent also to the competence field (10%).



221

Table 1: The frequencies of the professional goals established by the students

Short time goals Long time goals

Goals Frequency Percent

%


%

To keep my scholarship

student status or to

became a scholarship

student

20 33 To take my degree in

educational sciences

25 42

To get good grades in

exams

10 17 To find a job as titular

teacher

13 22

To be first 9 15 To practice in the

educational field

9 15

To learn at high

standards

8 13 Apply for a master

program

7 11

To be a volunteer 7 12 To be competent in the

field of my activity

6 10

To read the recommended

books

6 10

Table 2: The frequencies of the personal goals established by the students




222


%


%

To have fun in holiday

time

22 37 To get married 25 42

To visit many new places 15 25 To have children 19 32

To make money during

the summer

11 18 To have more self

confidence

8 13

To begin to learn a new

language

7 12 To emigrate 5 8

To be more self-secure,

punctual

5 8 To take my driving

license

3 5

In table 2 are presented the frequencies of the personal goals listed by the students. The

results shows that the majority of the short term goals (37%) refer to the holiday time - To have

fun in holiday time (37%), and the least frequent refer to personality traits - To be more self-

secure, punctual (8%). The majority of the long time goals refer to family goals – to get married

(42%), and the least frequent to take the driving license (5 %).

Table 3: The paired sample t test for professional vs. personal goals

Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std. Error

Mean t Df

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Pair 1 professional total –

personal total

7.53 3.28049 .42351 3.259 59 .02

In table 3 is presented the paired sample t test for the professional and personal goals, the

result indicate that the most listed goals are the professional ones. The null hypothesis 1 was

invalid, and the research hypothesis does confirm.

In order to test null hypothesis 2, that states that ―The students do not focus mainly on the

performance goals and less on competence-based goals‖ we compare the performance goals with

the competence ones.



223

Table 4: The frequencies of the professional goals established by the students



%


%

Performance goals 39 65 Performance goals 47 78

Competence goals

21 35 Competence goals

13 22

Table 5: The paired sample t test for performance vs. competence goals

Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std. Error

Mean t Df

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Pair 1 performance total –

competence total

11.22 4.12 1.54 4.63 59 .01

In table 4 and 5 are presented the frequencies and the paired sample t test for the

performance and competence goals. The results reveal that the students establish significantly

more performance goals then competence ones, both in short time and in long time. The null

hypothesis 2 was invalid, and the research hypothesis does confirm.

In order to test null hypothesis 3, that states that ―The majority of the helpful human

resources identified by the students are not within the faculty staff‖ we calculated the frequencies

of the human resources listed by the students.

Table 6: The frequencies of the human resources established by the students

Professional development Personal development



224

Human resources Frequency Percent

%

Human resources Frequency Percent

%

Academic staff 32 53 Family 35 58

Teachers 15 25 Friends 17 28

Colleagues 13 22 Acquaintances 8 14

In table 6 are presented the frequencies of the helpful human resources in reaching the

career and personal goals listed by the students. The results show that for the career development

the most listed human resource is the academic faculty staff (35%), also listed are teachers and

colleagues. For the personal development the most listed human resources is family (58%) and

following, friends and acquaintances. The null hypothesis 3 was invalid, and the research

hypothesis does confirm.

In order to test null hypothesis 4, that states that ―The main steps in career planning listed

by the students do not refer to time management‖ we calculated the frequencies of career steps

listed by the students.

Table 7: The frequencies of the career steps established by the students

Steps Frequency Percent %

Learning time management 18 30

Gatheringlearning materials 14 23

Learningthroughout the semester 11 18

Early preparation of learning activities 8 13

Sign up formanyvoluntary activities 7 12

Motivation 2 3

In table 7 are presented the frequencies of the steps in reaching the career goals listed by

the students. The most frequent are time management goals (30%) and the least frequent the

necessity for increasing motivation. The null hypothesis 4 was invalid, and the research

hypothesis does confirm.



225

In order to test null hypothesis 5, that states that ―The main obstacles in reaching the

career goals foreseen by the students do not refer to personal personality traits‖ we calculated the

frequencies of the obstacles listed by the students.

Table 8: The frequencies of the obstacles established by the students

Obstacles Frequency Percent %

Personal desertion 18 30

Lack of interest 15 25

Fatigue 14 23

Lack of time 8 13

Lack of knowledge 5 9

In table 8 are presented the frequencies of the obstacles that may occur in reaching the

career goals. The most frequent are intern factors (desertion and lack of interest) and the least

frequent lack of knowledge. The null hypothesis 5 was invalid, and the research hypothesis does

confirm.

6. Conclusions

This research focused on investigating the abilities of making a career plan of the

prospective teachers in relation to the educational career.

The results substantiate that the students in educational sciences, guided by a mentor,

have the ability to lay out a career development plan. They are capable to formulate career goals,

identify the human resources that can be helpful in reaching them, foresee the possible obstacles

and lay out action steps.

The students establish mostly career goals, and secondary personal goals. The majority of

the short time professional goals refer to financial aspects of taking a higher education program,

and the least frequent refer to a component of competence. The majority of the long time goals

refer to be certified as a teacher and the least frequent also to the competence field. Also, the

students establish significantly more performance goals then competence ones, both in short time

and in long time.



226

For the career development the most listed human resource is the academic faculty staff,

also listed are teachers and colleagues. For the personal development the most listed human

resources is family and following, friends and acquaintances.

The most frequent obstacles that may intervene are intern factors (desertion and lack of

interest) and the least frequent lack of knowledge.

This research was conducted based on the work done with the students in the POSDRU project,

POSDRU/161/2.1/G/141573, Incepe o cariera de success.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Berdibayeva, S.K., Kalmatayeva, A.M., Tulebayeva, S.A.(2012). Research of formation

of personal-professional capacities at higher education institutes students of pedagogical

specialties. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 69 (2012) 1174 – 1177

2. Chlebikova et al (2015). Planning of personal development and succession. Procedia

Economics and Finance 26 ( 2015 ) 249 – 253

3. Luştrea, A. (2015). The educational career choice: A SWOT analysis. The international

conference: Globalization, intercultural dialogue and national identity, Petru Maior

University, Târgu Mureş, 28-29 mai 2015

4. Mathis L.R., Jackson H.J.(1994). Human resource management, West Publishing

Corporation

5. Nastasa, L.E., Cazan, A. (2012). Personal and professional development of beginner

psychologists. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 84 ( 2013 ) 781 – 785

6. Potolea, D., Toma, S., (2014). The dynamic and multidimensional structure of the

teachers professional development. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 180 (

2015 ) 113 – 118

Documents

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER … 03 22.pdf · Teachers personal and professional development ―aims to provide for teachers authentic learning experiences in the