Unit 6 – Learning Aim D Assignment
Learner Professional Development Plan
Unit 6: Work Experience in Health and Social Care
Learning aim D: Reflect on how work experience influences own personal and
professional development
Assessment criteria
D.P7 Review own strengths and areas for development in response to feedback on work
experience placement.
D.P8 Produce a personal and professional development plan which identifies improvements
to own skills for future development.
D.M4 Assess how self-reflection can contribute to personal and professional development in
work experience placement.
D.D3 Justify how planning for and reflecting on skills developed during own work experience
placement have informed own future plans for personal and professional
development.
Looking Back on Work Experience Placement
D.P7 – ‘Review own strengths and areas for development in response to feedback
on work experience placement.’
Reflection is a process which helps you gain insight into your professional practice by thinking
analytically about any element of it. Reflection is important professionally as it provides an
opportunity to critically evaluate our past actions and learn from both successes and failures.
By examining what worked well and what could be improved, we can adapt our approaches,
refine our skills, and become more effective in our roles. It also encourages you to develop an
understanding of different perspectives and viewpoints as well as recognising your own
strengths and weaknesses. The benefits of reflective practice are:
➔ a raised sense of self-awareness
➔ a greater understanding of practice
➔ an improvement in one's own area of practice
➔ improved critical thinking
➔ enhanced problem solving skills
➔ increased resilience and adaptability
https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/associate-news/reflective-learning-what-is-it-and-what-are-the-
benefits
https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/meeting-our-standards/reflective-practice/what-is-
reflection/
Graham Gibbs created the Gibbs' Reflective Cycle in 1988 to provide a framework for learning
from events. It provides a framework for analysing experiences and, because of its repetitive
structure, works especially well with frequent experiences, enabling you to make plans and
learn from things that went well or poorly. It covers 6 stages:
★ Description of the experience
★ Feelings and thoughts about the experience
★ Evaluation of the experience, both good and bad
★ Analysis to make sense of the situation
★ Conclusion about what you learned and what you could have done differently
★ Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general
changes you might find appropriate
https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle
By distinguishing between reflection that occurs during an event and reflection that occurs
after it, Schön's (1991) Reflection in action/Reflection on action adds a further aspect. Donald
, Schon defines reflection as an expert's capacity to "think what they are doing while they are
doing it." This model offers a structure for reflection before, during, and following a learning
experience.
https://nursinganswers.net/reflective-guides/schon-reflective-model.php
Kolb's (1984) reflective practice cycle is a framework for assisting individuals in collecting
lessons from their experiences. It can be used to organise your thoughts or serve as the
foundation for a reflective piece of writing.
https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/reflectivewriting/kolb#:~:text=Kolb's%20Cycle%20of%20Reflective
%20Practice,way%20to%20structure%20your%20thinking
I think the best reflective cycle for me is Kolb’s reflective cycle as it is a simple and easy way to
reflect on my own actions and learn from it. For example, If i make a mistake during work
placement, I can think about what i have done wrong and improve on it to prevent me from
making the same mistake again. When using this reflective cycle, over time I will learn to make
fewer mistakes which will overall increase my confidence in the workplace and other settings.
What were my strengths while on my work placement?
One of my strongest abilities during my work experience was communication. Being able to
interact with various team members ensures that all of the customers requirements are met
and that any issues can be resolved. Clear communication also means that instructions are
given to various team members so they can get tasks done without repeating them. I am
Learner Professional Development Plan
Unit 6: Work Experience in Health and Social Care
Learning aim D: Reflect on how work experience influences own personal and
professional development
Assessment criteria
D.P7 Review own strengths and areas for development in response to feedback on work
experience placement.
D.P8 Produce a personal and professional development plan which identifies improvements
to own skills for future development.
D.M4 Assess how self-reflection can contribute to personal and professional development in
work experience placement.
D.D3 Justify how planning for and reflecting on skills developed during own work experience
placement have informed own future plans for personal and professional
development.
Looking Back on Work Experience Placement
D.P7 – ‘Review own strengths and areas for development in response to feedback
on work experience placement.’
Reflection is a process which helps you gain insight into your professional practice by thinking
analytically about any element of it. Reflection is important professionally as it provides an
opportunity to critically evaluate our past actions and learn from both successes and failures.
By examining what worked well and what could be improved, we can adapt our approaches,
refine our skills, and become more effective in our roles. It also encourages you to develop an
understanding of different perspectives and viewpoints as well as recognising your own
strengths and weaknesses. The benefits of reflective practice are:
➔ a raised sense of self-awareness
➔ a greater understanding of practice
➔ an improvement in one's own area of practice
➔ improved critical thinking
➔ enhanced problem solving skills
➔ increased resilience and adaptability
https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/associate-news/reflective-learning-what-is-it-and-what-are-the-
benefits
https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/meeting-our-standards/reflective-practice/what-is-
reflection/
Graham Gibbs created the Gibbs' Reflective Cycle in 1988 to provide a framework for learning
from events. It provides a framework for analysing experiences and, because of its repetitive
structure, works especially well with frequent experiences, enabling you to make plans and
learn from things that went well or poorly. It covers 6 stages:
★ Description of the experience
★ Feelings and thoughts about the experience
★ Evaluation of the experience, both good and bad
★ Analysis to make sense of the situation
★ Conclusion about what you learned and what you could have done differently
★ Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general
changes you might find appropriate
https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle
By distinguishing between reflection that occurs during an event and reflection that occurs
after it, Schön's (1991) Reflection in action/Reflection on action adds a further aspect. Donald
, Schon defines reflection as an expert's capacity to "think what they are doing while they are
doing it." This model offers a structure for reflection before, during, and following a learning
experience.
https://nursinganswers.net/reflective-guides/schon-reflective-model.php
Kolb's (1984) reflective practice cycle is a framework for assisting individuals in collecting
lessons from their experiences. It can be used to organise your thoughts or serve as the
foundation for a reflective piece of writing.
https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/reflectivewriting/kolb#:~:text=Kolb's%20Cycle%20of%20Reflective
%20Practice,way%20to%20structure%20your%20thinking
I think the best reflective cycle for me is Kolb’s reflective cycle as it is a simple and easy way to
reflect on my own actions and learn from it. For example, If i make a mistake during work
placement, I can think about what i have done wrong and improve on it to prevent me from
making the same mistake again. When using this reflective cycle, over time I will learn to make
fewer mistakes which will overall increase my confidence in the workplace and other settings.
What were my strengths while on my work placement?
One of my strongest abilities during my work experience was communication. Being able to
interact with various team members ensures that all of the customers requirements are met
and that any issues can be resolved. Clear communication also means that instructions are
given to various team members so they can get tasks done without repeating them. I am
