There may be strong correlation between graduate outcomes and personal development - yet personal development is often approached as a ‘bolt-on’ that students are expected to pick up naturally, and frequently viewed as a self-contained and individual activity.
My view is personal development should not sit in a vacuum, and to develop one’s own needs, there warrants an acute awareness of understanding others, the context of one’s own natural environment and a measure of progress.
In my school, I saw substantial value in connecting students in their own peer groups to discuss their professional development, work together in supporting each other on a range of employability activities, and identifying opportunities and sharing ambitions.
This was a move away from a somewhat inward-looking self-evaluation log that students were meant to complete after each of their tutor meetings. This was based on a series of rather lacklustre formative questions (which were perhaps typical of many in the sector).
