So what lies ahead for me? A lot more to come!

So, throughout my blog so far, I've provided a background into me as a person, what placement I've chosen, along with my personal aims for development, and employability for careers in sport. Iv also highlighted my duties for my placement so far and what sort of tasks i'v carried out and how i'v found them so far. I believe that there's a lot more to come and throughout the forthcoming months I will be engaging more with the companies social media platforms, website development, leasing with the press, and in addition, marketing for the SPAR Level 3 Lancashire School Games Final at the end of June. My upcoming roles for this event will be to create a South Ribble School Sport brochure which will highlight moments from all of the borough's sporting events, along with quotes, pictures, stats and more info. In addition I will create promotional posters advertising the upcoming event and posters after the event rounding up the final. I will also be creating video montages for all the schools in South Ribble, which will comprise of all of the events which have taken place from September 2014-July 2015. Again all of these print and digital marketing strategies will develop my commitment, creativity and decision making, and also team working skills, as I will need to spend a lot of time developing innovative ideas and having the patience to regularly carry out these upcoming tasks. This is something I'm very much looking forward to carrying out soon, and will be critically reflecting upon in my blog soon. I will also be soon establishing a South Ribble SSP YouTube account whereby we will publicize all of our events on YouTube for our target markets to engage with! This is something I'm very looking forward to start carrying out and will provide me with experience in digital technology. This can also be said for working on the Lancashire School Games project too, which will offer me an excellent opportunity to develop my understanding and knowledge in creating print media and also working with the press too.






My upcoming blogs in the forthcoming months will be more so looking at critically analysing my placement experiences more in depth as I go along, as I can then really analyse how I believe my experiences to have gone. Currently I'm only just getting into a constant flow of duties and therefore its hard to thoroughly reflect back at my time on placement as there's still a lot to experience. However, i'm looking forward to what lies ahead and will be reflecting upon more of my experiences very soon!

So what are my thoughts on my placement experiences so far?

Why are these experiences important to me? What am I learning?
So far throughout my placement I have contributed to maintaining the social media platforms, website development and creating press releases, and overall I'm really enjoying my experience. I feel that I have learnt a lot so far, considering I haven't been doing my placement for long and still a long way to go, and a lot more exciting tasks to carry out! I believe the developing my knowledge with social media platforms such as twitter is helping me understand how to engage with target audiences and developing customer relationships with schools in South Ribble. In the upcoming weeks I'm going to create a new South Ribble SSP Facebook site too, which will promote the same information as Twitter but trying to aim to a larger target audience! This new Facebook page will again help me to develop my understanding of using social media to engage with target markets. 
Looking at the website development, even though this is a new project I've just started, I'm very excited about learning about new technologies and engaging with our target markets on our website, and I believe that this new website will being an interactive and exciting feel to our school sport partnership. This will be developing my transferable skill of 'learning new technologies' which is what employers are expecting to see from new graduates, as the world is developing digitally. 

Looking more at my transferable skills, I can see that my time management and organisation is developing considerably, due to the commitment of my university placement module, other models and assignments and recreational activities for my personal time. I feel that having a placement such as this sports marketing placment is developing my managerial skills in terms of balancing my work loads and planning in advance to know how much time I have for particular tasks, and this is a key skill I hope to keep developing. 
I also believe that my enthusiasm and motivation is being portrayed throughout my placement so far, as my really enjoying my roles and responsibility, and working with a great team. I also believe that i'm very motivated as I want to create a good and lasting impression on my team mates and contacts I meet along the way, and therefore showing commitment and a positive attitude will ensure that I sustain a high standard of commitment throughout my working career.
My placement experiences so far have also developed my reliability and dependability. Each week I attend all the school events and ensure that I follow up on press releases and social media, and think this is standing me in good stead for my upcoming months on placement.

Focusing on my main areas to develop over my placement, I highlighted 'Decision Making and Patience' as two which I need to develop. These two skills were established from psychometric test prior to placement, and I'm working hard to develop these skills. I'm working on my decision making skills more now, and thinking about my options more so and not rushing into my first thoughts. For example, I'm asking for thoughts from teams members on types of content they want on social media and the website, and also in the press releases, and this is developing my patience when making key decisions. I hope this continues to develop through my placement, and I will blogging my thoughts with critical analysis throughout.

When reflecting back upon my experiences on placement, I have been using some of the 'Chimp Paradox Mind Management' theory at times. I consider my options before I make a decision and weight up the best outcomes. This is allowing me to control my 'inner chimp' more and helping me to develop my decision making and patience skills.  I'm also using a Active and also Reflective Learning Style on Kolbs Experiential Learning chart. I'm thinking more about my tasks in a reflective way, and as an active learning style when I'm placement, when I'm asked to carry out various tasks. This is also developing Schon's concept of 'reflection on action', whereby I'm looking back at my placement experiences and assessing my views on the experience. I feel that more critical analysis will need to be done throughout my placement, but as I haven't been on placement for too long, there will be a lot more critical analysis to come in the forthcoming months due to a lot more responsibility in various duties. 

In the upcoming weeks I will be blogging a lot more with regards to the new website page, Facebook page, and my experiences upon my time on placement. In my upcoming blog I will be talking about what is next for my placement and upcoming events and duties which I will be carrying out between February and July.

My key learning experiences to date - So what am I up to?

So what have been my key learning experiences and significant incidents to date? 

• I began my placement for South Ribble School Sport Partnership back in late November 2014 and now were currently at the start of February 2015, so I'v been working with the partnership over the course of 3 months for one day a week (Tuesdays), and I'm doing 4-8 hours on a Tuesday (depending on how many events taking place) and then 3 hours personal time for social media, website development and press related tasks throughout the week for them too. I consider myself to now have settled into my role well. I have formed good working relationships with each of my team mates (image - left) and they are a great and highly motivated team to carry out my placement for. At first it took me a few weeks to break into my role and understand exactly what the partnership team aims to achieve and understand all my upcoming duties, but now i'm settled and enjoying my experience to date. I've also recently agreed with the company to carry on doing my placement up until July time when the primary schools break up for summer, to gain more industry experience and keep on learning.
• My first experience with them was understanding what the school sports partnership company aims to achieve and how I will help them achieve their goals. I attended regular team meetings with the cohort of our team and discussed the academic year ahead and our plans for the school year. We outlined the calendar of school sports events, and what the team members roles were going to be throughout the calendar. For me, I have a few main aims, and currently (February 2015) my tasks are still upcoming and new ones keep arising, as I've recently agreed to help out with marketing for the School Games Lancashire finals in June 2015. I will talk about my upcoming duties for my extended placement more in my upcoming posts!
• Currently, one of my aims for example is being responsible for managing the social media page for the company (Twitter). I ensure that tweets before and after the event are tweeted to our target markets (primary schools, teachers and governing bodies) to ensure everyone knows our latest news and events. In addition to social media, I'm responsible for the development on the partnerships website page. When I started my placement the partnership had already established a website, however it wasn't search engine optimized and therefore no-one could find and access our website. In addition, the features on the platform were outdated and little creativity and innovation could be conveyed across the webpage. Therefore I created a task for myself to create a new website for the partnership this coming year. Its still under construction and will be published within the next couple of weeks. The new website will aim to publicize all of our primary school sports events, and include, videos, photos, text and interactive technology to really engage with our target markets. This is an ongoing task for me and will carry on the website until the foreseeable future. Come back to my blog soon to see the new website in action and experience the new features instilled!
• The website and social media sites link into another duties of mine, which is attending all the primary school sports events which the partnership team hold. Each Tuesday morning and sometimes afternoon events too, I will attend the events and take official photographs for the partnership and use these photos to publish on our new website and social media sites. However, a constraint and incidence to consider is data protection when taking photographs of the participants. I therefore need to ask all the school teaches whether any participant isn't allowed their photos taken, and therefore this can be a timely and strategic process in each event when taking photographs. In addition to taking photos, I help run the event and help set up and tidy away equipment, and collect team sheets from teachers during the events, and I also obtain feedback from all the schools. For the feedback part, I'll ask each school their thoughts on the event, such as what they enjoyed, and future improvement, which allow the partnership to see how we can improve our events (customer research).

In addition to the maintenance of our social media page, and creation of our new website, I lease with the 'Lancashire Evening Post' and are linked with the sports editor for the LEP. Each week I create a Press Release to email to the LEP and promote our upcoming events. We recently held the Sports Hall Athletics School Games South Ribble Borough Final (20th January) and this is set to be published in the local Lancashire paper soon! This duty of ensuring that press releases are sent and promoting our events to the press is something I'm enjoying and an essential communication strategy for our company.

So these are my main duties at the present time. I'm very busy and enjoying the experience so far. Were only half way through the academic primary schools calendar, and now that I'm settled into my role, the roles and responsibilities are going be become more frequent and a lot more exciting times ahead. It's early days in my mind, and a lot more experiences to be gained! 

In my upcoming blog I'll be talking more about my thoughts on my placement experiences so far, and referring back to my initial aims for development as well.

Model of Self-Awareness: Using Johari's Window to develop my Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness is a major factor which I will explore and delve into throughout my placement blog, and will hopefully develop an understanding as to why its important, and how it can benefit me. So what does it mean? Self-Awareness means having a clear perception of your personality, including your strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. Self-Awareness also allows you to understand other people, how they perceive you, your attitude and your responses to them in the moment (pathwaytohappieness, n.d.). Its important for me to develop my self awareness because you are able to make changes in the thoughts and interpretations you make in your mind. 

Self-awareness is one of the attributes of Emotional Intelligence and an important factor in achieving success. In addition, understanding self-awareness is the first step in creating what you want and mastering yourself. Having self-awareness allows you to see where your thoughts and emotions are taking you. It also allows you to see the controls of your emotions, behaviour, and personality so you can make changes you want. Until you are aware in the moment of the controls to your thoughts, emotions, words, and behavior, you will have difficulty making changes in the direction of your life. (pathwaytohappieness, n.d.) 

      Therefore in order to develop my understand of self-awareness I will be using the 'Johari Window' (shown below), which addresses the degree to which individuals both receive and disseminate information. The model employs a grid with four regions that illustrate four levels of information exchange between individuals. The underlying concept of the Johari Window is that open, two way communication enhances interpersonal effectiveness and mutual understanding between individuals within a group, and that when information is mutually held and freely exchanged, organizational productivity will increase. 

As we can see in the model, there are four areas - The Arena which represents information that is known by-self and known-by-others (i.e., the information is mutually held and exchanged). This known-by-self and known-by-others region is the most productive area in which persons can operate within an organization. The aim in any group should always be to develop the 'open area' for every person, because when we work in this area with others we are at our most effective and productive, and the group is at its most productive too. The open free area, or 'the arena', can be seen as the space where good communications and cooperation occur, free from distractions, mistrust, confusion, conflict and misunderstanding (Business balls, n.d.). The Blindspot - This region of the grid represents information that is known-by-others but not known-by-self. For example, what others think of you, and what do you think they think about you. The Facade - This region represents information that is known-by-self but not known-by-others. This is information that could be useful to others but which we may purposely withhold, either because we wish to wield power over others by carving out an advantage for ourselves, because we fear that others might use the information to their advantage or to our disadvantage. The last section 'The Unknown' which refers to this region representing information that is not known-by-self and not known-bothers. This represents a collective Blindspot for everyone in the group. Potentially useful information that is not known by anyone in the organization is the stuff of which innovative breakthroughs could be made, if only certain key information were known and acted upon. 

        I will be using Johari's phases to develop my understanding of self-awareness and how I can develop my own self-awareness to improve my perception of my personality, my beliefs, and my emotions.

References:

Business balls. (n.d.). Johari window. Available: http://www.businessballs.com/johariwindowmodel.htm. Last accessed 1st February 2015.

pathwaytohappiness.. (n.d.). Self Awareness. Available: http://www.pathwaytohappiness.com/self-awareness.htm. Last accessed 1st February 2015.

It's all about controlling my inner chimp - How will I be using the 'Chimp Paradox' Mind Management programme to develop my confidence, success and happiness?

The 'Chimp Paradox' Mind Management programme created by Professor Steve Peters is all about developing your confidence, success and happiness. The groundbreaking mind model programme has been used by professional sports stars and is considered a highly inspirational and insightful book, providing insights into controlling our minds to create successful outcomes. The image on the left side below of the post portrays a basic overview of the chimp paradox model. This mind management strategy can be quite deep and takes a lot of time to understand, however from a brief overview, us as humans have have three psychological brains in our model, the frontal, limbic and parietal, and these are called the 'human, the chimp and the computer'. The frontal is the human, and the limbic is the 'Chimp - an emotional machine'. The problem is that the two parts are not in agreement about most things, and therefore in different situations the chimp and your human mind can work together to create a positive outcome, other time, repel and create a negative outcome. Therefore in short, its about using mind management techniques to control your inner chimp and control the outcomes using your human brain as opposed to jumping to an outcome without thought. Therefore this model above is showing how the chimp can either feel danger or threat depending on the situation, and how the the outcome will be determined.

The book is broken down into several parts (image: right) and I'm currently only a third through, and so far have learnt a lot of insightful mind management strategies, and developed an understanding of how we think. Therefore this mind management model will be an excellent tool to monitor my experiences on placement and how I dealt with different situations, and I will be updating my thoughts throughout my blog. 


References:

Chimp management. (2012). The Journey. Available: http://chimpmanagement.com/theprogramme.html. Last accessed 1st February 2015.

Prof Peters, S (2012). The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Programme for Confidence, Success and Happiness. Croydon: Ebury Publishing.

Model of Reflection - Schon (1991) concept of 'reflection in action' and 'reflection on action':

Another model of reflection I'm going to implement into my critical analysis is using Schon's 1991 concept of 'reflection in action' and 'reflection on action'. Schon's theory is that there are two types of reflection, one during and one after activity or event. The table below shows the differences between reflection in action, and reflection on action, and the points mentioned in each column will be used to evaluate how I am learning, and carrying out experiences, and whether I look back at what i'v done, to assess the positives or negatives. 

This concept is particularly important to myself as it enables me to analyse when I reflect the most, and whether I think on the spot, and don't consider the consequences, which could lead to a negative outcome, or do I think about the situation after and take my time to control the outcome. This concept will tie in well with my 'mind management' strategy of using the 'Chimp Paradox', created by Professor Steve Peters. The mind management programme is designed to develop confidence, success, and happiness, and all ties in with managing your brain and your inner 'chimp'. 
I will explain more about the Chimp Paradox in my upcoming post, but the concept created by Schon, of how I reflect, will link into how I act in situations which is analysed in the Chimp Paradox concept. Therefore, throughout my placement blog I will be bringing Schon's concepts of reflection into practice and analysing when I was 'reflecting in action' and when I was 'reflecting on action'.

References: 

solent. (n.d.). Reflective thinking and writing. Available: http://mycourse.solent.ac.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=2732&chapterid=1113. Last accessed 1st February 2015.

Model of Reflection - Kolb's 1984 Experiential Learning Cycle and 1974 Learning Style model:

The next model of reflection I will use throughout my placement is ‘Kolb’s 1984 Experiential Learning Cycle and Learning Style' model to critically self-reflect my performance and development during  my placement experiences. It is essential that I understand what learning actually is, and how I learn personally. Kolb, 1984:38 defines learning as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”. Therefore throughout my placement, I will be taking my experiences gained, applying them to Kolb's experiential model of reflection, in order to understand my learning styles and process, which will create my knowledge, which will be used for future situations.

The adult learning specialist, David Kolb, has described the learning process as a four-phase cycle (see below) in which the learner touches all bases, which include:

1.       Having a concrete experience, which provides a basis for reflective observation.

2.      The learner's observation and reflection on the experience and his or her own response to it.

3.      These observations are then assimilated into a conceptual framework or related to other concepts in the learner's past experience and knowledge from which implications for action can be derived;

4.      Then tested and applied in different situations, known as active experimentation.

The self-reflection model is along the same lines of the previous model mentioned in the blog (Gibbs, 1988) model of reflection, whereby both models aim to analyse and evaluate the experiences, and plan out the experiences again to create successful outcomes. However, in addition Kolb's learning cycle also incorporates 'learning styles' 1974 model (see below) into the self-reflection model, which aims to allow myself to determine what type of learning style I possess throughout my placement experiences. 

Kolb explains that different people naturally prefer a certain single different learning style. There are various factors influencing a person's preferred style, for example, social environment, educational experiences, or the basic cognitive structure of the individual. Whatever influences the choice of style, the learning style preference itself is actually the product of two pairs of variables, or two separate 'choices' that we make, which Kolb presented as lines of axis, each with 'conflicting' modes at either end:

A typical presentation of Kolb's two continuum's is that the east-west axis is called the Processing Continuum (how we approach a task), and the north-south axis is called the Perception Continuum(our emotional response, or how we think or feel about it).

Kolb believed that we cannot perform both variables on a single axis at the same time (i.e think and feel). Our learning style is a product of these two choice decisions. It's often easier to see the construction of Kolb's learning styles in terms of a two-by-two matrix. Each learning style represents a combination of two preferred styles. The diagram also highlights Kolb's terminology for the four learning styles; diverging, assimilating, and converging, accommodating (McLeod, 2010). 

           As shown above there are four different types of learning styles, and each style is suited for different individuals. One of my aims prior to starting my placement is to identify what type of learning style I am, and then monitor my learning over the course of the placement to analyse whether I've change my learning styles or not. Currently I'm a 'Reflector' (Diverging - feeling and watching - CE/RO) learner. In order for myself to know what learner i'm currently, I took the 'Honey and Mumford: Learning Styles Questionnaire' which asked me 80 questions on my personality. Therefore this psychometric test tested my personality type and concluded that I was a 'Reflector' first, followed by a Pragmatist, then Theorist and lastly an Activist learner. This questionnaire has enabled me to identify that I like to feel and watch experiences more so, and also look at situations from different perspectives. I consider this to be a true reflection on my current learning styles, but i'm open to experiencing new situations to develop my activist, theorist and pragmatist learning styles, and will be critically reflecting upon all my experiences on placement throughout my blog.

References:

Businessballs. (n.d.). Kolb learning styles David Kolb's learning styles model and experiential learning theory (ELT). Available: http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm. Last accessed 1st February 2015.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, p38.

McLeod, S. A. (2010). Kolb - Learning Styles. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html

Model of Reflection - Gibbs 1988: Learning by doing cycle

 

The Gibbs 1988: Learning by doing cycle is the first self-reflective model which I will apply to my placement experiences. The model can be seen here on the right, and illustrates the 6 stage cycle which begins at 'Description' and concludes at 'Action Plan'. Gibbs's 1998 reflection cycle is looking at getting the reflective practitioner to reflect upon their experiences and work through the phases to analyse what happened, why did this happen, was this considered a positive or negative experience and why so. Then analysing your performance, in terms of what went well, what didn't, and how should have the experience turned out. Then looking at what else could you have done in the conclusion stage, and the last phase aiming to analyse what would you do differently if you were to do it again. Therefore each stage in the cycle is directly relevant to my placement experiences, as I will be allowed to critically evaluate all of my outcomes and determine whether I can be proud of the outcomes or is there room for improvement, and how will I achieve this. Therefore the 'taking action' stage is the key, as Gibbs prompts me as the practitioner to formulate an action plan, enabling myself to look at my experiences and see what I would change in the future, and how I would develop/improve my practice, to enable successful outcomes, This is why this reflective model will be an excellent self-reflection tool for my placement.

References:

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. London: Further Education Unit

Oxford Brookes University. (n.d.). Reflective writing: About Gibbs reflective cycle. Available: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/upgrade/study-skills/reflective-gibbs.html. Last accessed 1st February 2015.

Models of Reflection - So how will I critically analyse and evaluate my placement experiences?

Throughout my time on placement I will need to ensure that I am always reflecting upon my experiences, and highlighting my strengths, weaknesses and future opportunities. Therefore prior to beginning my placement and also throughout my placement I will use a series of 'self- reflection models' to critically appraise my placement experiences which will help me identify what events were successful, and other events which can be reflected upon and developed in the future. The models of reflection I will be using are:  

• Gibbs 1988 Reflection cycle - Learning by doing model
• Kolbs 1984 Learning Cycle and Learning Styles reflection model
• Schon's 1991 concept of 'Reflection in action, and reflection on action'
• Johari's Window of Self-awareness

These four self-reflective and self-awareness models will be applied to my experiences which I encounter on my journey throughout my placement. I will be applying each of these theories to different situations and critically analysing my performances and how I can improve on situations in the future.

The upcoming blog posts will solely look at each self-reflection model and provide a background into what is the model about, why I have chosen this particular model, and what does this model offer to me as a learner.

The Key to Employability: Using a theoretical model for developing my graduate employability

The CareerEDGE – The Key to Employability Model:

Prior to beginning my placement, and also throughout my placement I will need to consider some sort of academic graduate employability model. This model will be used to understand what important aspects an individual needs to develop to become ‘employable’. As seen in this blog, the module is called ‘Careers in Sport’, therefore my aims throughout my module and placement is to gain industry based experience in a career in sport and develop my understanding of what factors develop employability, which will help me to develop into a very promising candidate for my dream sporting career. When looking at employability from an overall perspective, Hillage and Pollard (1998) suggest that, in simple terms, employability is about 'being capable of getting and keeping fulfilling work. More comprehensively employability is the capability to move self-sufficiently within the labour market to realise potential through sustainable employment'. Therefore its essential for myself to understand about what makes me employable, and what components I need to develop to achieve this definition.

           Therefore throughout my placement I will use Pool and Sewell’s, 2007 ‘CareerEDGE – The Key to Employability Model’. This model reflects an assertion that each component is absolutely essential and one missing element will considerably reduce a graduate’s employability. The model portrayed in Figure 1 (shown below) illustrates the essential components of employability and also suggests the direction of interaction between the various elements. The “CareerEDGE” model is used as an aid to remember the five components on the lower tier of the model. It is suggested that providing students with opportunities for them to access and develop everything on this lower tier and essentially, for reflecting on and evaluating these experiences, will result in development of higher levels of self-efficacy, self-confidence and self-esteem – the crucial links to employability (Pool and Sewell, 2007).

The original model detailed in Figure 1 identifies all the components and suggests the direction of interaction which develops 'employability'. From this, Figure 2 evolved (shown below), with a “key” like symbol image. This pictorial version of the model is a useful, practical way of explaining the concept of employability and indicates that it is the “key” to choosing and securing occupations in which the graduate has the opportunity to achieve satisfaction and success (Pool and Sewell, 2007). Therefore I will use both of these figures shown in this post to track my progress to developing my employability. I will need to ensure that I’m working through each stage of the figures, whether that’s ‘emotional intelligence or reflection and evaluation, and I will provide evidence and critical analysis of using the CareerEDGE model throughout my placement blog.

Graduate Prospects (2005/6:17) identified two-thirds of graduate vacancies are open to graduates of any discipline, which implies that for the remaining third, subject-specific knowledge, understanding and skills are still of vital importance. Therefore it’s essential to recognise that employers will judge graduates on the basis of how successfully they have completed their degree course (i.e. their degree classification) perhaps because this is often the sole measure available to them. However, even though the subject-specific knowledge, understanding and skills are still extremely important in many cases, these alone are unlikely to secure a graduate occupations in which they can be satisfied and successful. Therefore developing additional employability skills such as ‘emotional intelligence and self-reflection’ are vital elements to developing overall employability, which therefore are factors which I'm aiming to develop in great deal.

References:

Graduate Prospects (2005/6), Prospects Directory Salary and Vacancy Survey, Graduate Market Trends (Winter), Graduate Prospects, Manchester, p. 11-17.
Hillage, J., Pollard, E. (1998). Employability: Developing a framework for policy analysis. Available: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RB85.pdf. Last accessed 1st February 2015.
Pool, L.D., Sewell, P. (2007). The key to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability . Education + Training. 49 (4), p278-281.