Blog 4 - My Experience of the Degree

 


My Experience of the Degree

To decide whether to study the degree I used the Force Field Analysis created by Lewin (1940) this helped me weigh up the benefits and difficulties of the decision to complete the degree (appendix 2).

My aspirations of the degree were that it would help me develop a deeper level of understanding of children's learning and development but it has also helped with my knowledge of working well with other practitioners and agencies. I am more confident in leading and managing a team and understand how to lead an innovative change.

I now have extended my understanding of child development, professionalism and working with others and I will continue to develop my understanding through training and observation of good practice.

When I complete the foundation degree it will put my pay scale on the grade above in my current employment. Having a foundation degree will support my professional development if I choose to progress in my career such as if I decided I would like to complete teacher training.

I have completed an action plan that I currently following that supports my aspirations of achieved career progression (appendix 1) these include progressing into a different pathway from being a learning support assistant as I am applying for a nurture support assistant job.

I have enjoyed learning from my research whilst studying for the degree and completing the degree has supported my ability to support children and their families in my role as a learning support assistant.

References:

Mind Tools (2017) Force Field Analysis. London: Mind Tools Ltd. [Online]. Available from: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htm [Accessed 24 April 2017].

The University of Kent (2017) Action Planning. Kent: The University of Kent. [Online]. Available from: https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsactionplanning.htm [Accessed 01 April 2017].

Appendices:

Appendix 1:

Achievement	The Benefits	Action	When?	Next Step
To have applied for a different pathway of nurture support assistant.	Applying for a different pathway will give me more child development experience in another field.	To complete the job application and study about nurture in regards to child development and supporting vulnerable children.	To complete my job application by April 2017. If shortlisted interviews are in May 2017.	To develop my skills in the nurture pathway. To become a nurture support leader in the future.
To complete my degree.	When I complete my degree my pay scale for my job will rise. I will have an advantage when applying for new jobs and in progressing as I would now have a degree.	To complete all tasks to the best of my ability and studying all the resources available for each topic.	To complete all work on their deadlines with last piece of work due in July 2017.	To progress further in my career for example in completing a teaching qualification or applying for higher education employment.

Appendix 2:

Force Field Analysis of Degree