It's a Friday afternoon and you have just logged on to your workstation to grudgingly complete a mandatory annual training module. Honestly, how much are you going to remember come Monday morning, let alone two months from now?
We gain skills and knowledge through formal education and various experiences throughout our careers. One way to think about growth is to divide it into two categories: the kind we seek out (e.g., a degree program) and the kind that we are obliged to undertake (e.g., mandatory training). Both of these experiences require that we reflect on the activity and work to integrate newfound information into our knowledge base and skills set. That said, not all experiences will have the same impact on our growth.
Research from the world of business describes experiences as lying on a continuum. Some will have a significant and lasting developmental impact; others will have a minimal impact. Those with the greatest effect on development include experience-based activities. This encompasses everything from taking the lead on a new project to accepting new responsibilities. Education-based experiences tend to be more passive, and likewise have less of an impact, for example, completing an online training or even reading this article (No worries, I don't take it personally.).
One of the greatest developmental activities is transitioning jobs. Job change brings with it several growth opportunities, including assessing new norms, integrating new information, and building new networks. We are forced to adapt and grow our professional relationships and interpersonal skills within a new context. This is, perhaps, one of the reasons why employers will screen potential candidates for job changes. They know that the candidate who has transitioned every 3-4 years has been engaged in significant, ongoing professional growth, whereas the candidate with 10 years of experience in the same company appears stagnant on paper.
Education-based development is on the other end of the continuum. Training, workshops, and reading all have less of an impact than experience-based activities. This makes intuitive sense since these activities are focused on knowledge transfer. Learning about the skills is fundamentally different from applying the skills. This is not to diminish the value of education. Increasingly, we see an emphasis on student-centered, task-based instruction in classrooms and training settings, which build on these tenants. Formal educational experiences that integrate opportunities to apply knowledge and build networks and relationships can lead to meaningful professional development.
How does knowing about the developmental impact continuum work for you? Occasionally, you may find yourself on one of the extreme ends when you transition to a new position or you feel yourself stagnate. Ideally, we all want to be somewhere in the middle of the continuum, involved in building and applying skills throughout our careers. The key takeaway is that we develop by doing. We engage in activities and we learn from them. You may need some help, however. It is one thing to read an article, it is another thing to find the time to reflect and integrate the knowledge into your professional practice. Motivation, time management, and personal organization are all critical elements to your success with lifelong learning.
Ultimately, it is our individual responsibility to make the most out of a given situation. As you think about your professional development, consider pursuing activities that are experience-based. Challenge yourself to bring elements of application and interaction when you find yourself engaged with passive learning opportunities. Make things happen. Erin N. O'Reilly serves as the director of the Intensive English Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her interests include language program administration and professional development.
By Erin N O'Reilly, PhD
Article Source: Think You're Developing Professional Skills? Maybe, Maybe Not So Much
We gain skills and knowledge through formal education and various experiences throughout our careers. One way to think about growth is to divide it into two categories: the kind we seek out (e.g., a degree program) and the kind that we are obliged to undertake (e.g., mandatory training). Both of these experiences require that we reflect on the activity and work to integrate newfound information into our knowledge base and skills set. That said, not all experiences will have the same impact on our growth.
Research from the world of business describes experiences as lying on a continuum. Some will have a significant and lasting developmental impact; others will have a minimal impact. Those with the greatest effect on development include experience-based activities. This encompasses everything from taking the lead on a new project to accepting new responsibilities. Education-based experiences tend to be more passive, and likewise have less of an impact, for example, completing an online training or even reading this article (No worries, I don't take it personally.).
One of the greatest developmental activities is transitioning jobs. Job change brings with it several growth opportunities, including assessing new norms, integrating new information, and building new networks. We are forced to adapt and grow our professional relationships and interpersonal skills within a new context. This is, perhaps, one of the reasons why employers will screen potential candidates for job changes. They know that the candidate who has transitioned every 3-4 years has been engaged in significant, ongoing professional growth, whereas the candidate with 10 years of experience in the same company appears stagnant on paper.
Education-based development is on the other end of the continuum. Training, workshops, and reading all have less of an impact than experience-based activities. This makes intuitive sense since these activities are focused on knowledge transfer. Learning about the skills is fundamentally different from applying the skills. This is not to diminish the value of education. Increasingly, we see an emphasis on student-centered, task-based instruction in classrooms and training settings, which build on these tenants. Formal educational experiences that integrate opportunities to apply knowledge and build networks and relationships can lead to meaningful professional development.
How does knowing about the developmental impact continuum work for you? Occasionally, you may find yourself on one of the extreme ends when you transition to a new position or you feel yourself stagnate. Ideally, we all want to be somewhere in the middle of the continuum, involved in building and applying skills throughout our careers. The key takeaway is that we develop by doing. We engage in activities and we learn from them. You may need some help, however. It is one thing to read an article, it is another thing to find the time to reflect and integrate the knowledge into your professional practice. Motivation, time management, and personal organization are all critical elements to your success with lifelong learning.
Ultimately, it is our individual responsibility to make the most out of a given situation. As you think about your professional development, consider pursuing activities that are experience-based. Challenge yourself to bring elements of application and interaction when you find yourself engaged with passive learning opportunities. Make things happen. Erin N. O'Reilly serves as the director of the Intensive English Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her interests include language program administration and professional development.
By Erin N O'Reilly, PhD
Article Source: Think You're Developing Professional Skills? Maybe, Maybe Not So Much
