Support structures for facilitators of student personal development planning: lessons from two departmental case studies

In the UK, following guidelines set out by the Quality Assurance Agency, personal development planning (PDP) is now operational across all higher education (HE) awards. Like many policy initiatives, PDP requires change, and vital to its implementation are those who facilitate PDP at the grassroots level. Staff given the task of implementing PDP are instrumental to its success or failure. Little has been written about the introduction of PDP from the perspective of those facilitating it - in particular, from the perspective of those not involved in its development. This study seeks to identify the support needed by HE staff to facilitate successful student PDP. The study, based in a university in North West England, uses a multiple case-study approach (two schools within the university - nursing and business). Data were gathered from university documentation, consisting of semi-structured interviews with three university PDP coordinators and with 15 staff who facilitated PDP between 2006 and 2007. Support required for those new to PDP focused on time and credit, or on formal recognition of the time spent on facilitation of PDP. But, for this group at least, it was clear that basic information about PDP was also paramount. For those who had been involved in student PDP for some time, the focus lay on how PDP was facilitated, highlighting competing pressures between quality assurance, professional requirements and autonomous or self-directed learning. Support needs were 'hands off', tied in with how PDP was interpreted, and indicated the need for clarity of information, roles and responsibilities. Of note was the importance of informal collegial support.