PG Diploma Community Learning and Development

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK SHEET

Course Title

Enquiring Professionalism Part 1

Course Code

ED502U

Student Name

Dawn Cara Brown

Student ID Number/ User ID

51554139
51554139

Session

15/16

Date of Submission

20/10/15

Date of Marking

26/10/15

Course Tutor

Aileen Ackland

Cross Marker

Rachel Shanks

Date of Cross Marking

05/11/15

CGS Grade

E1

Your submission will be judged using the Common Grade Scale (CGS) descriptors and grades.
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/documents/registry/CGS_Code_of_Practice_on_Assessment.pdf)

Only two attempts are allowed.

C1

Specific Criteria and Feedback Comments

Analyse critically your own development as a professional

Met

Not Met

Comments:

It is evident that you are reflecting on yourself as a professional. I like the inclusion of
the posters and mindmaps, which demonstrate that you are exploring your strengths,
experiences, values and resources and identifying areas of challenge and
development. You use very powerful images, such as the self-portrait as a chained
criminal, to express feelings about yourself which show you are self-aware. In relation
to this criterion you might have reflected more on your journey to this self-awareness
and described some of the significant learning experiences in your development as a
professional. Remember, too, the why question. To go deeper towards reflexivity, try
to ask yourself why.why are these my values, why am I so self-critical etc etc.
You are clearly drawing on Brookfields ideas, and I see you making links between
some of the reading you are doing and the points you make about yourself and your
work. More explicit discussion of these theoretical perspectives (rather than just
mentioning then in relation to yourself) would develop your analysis to become more
critical.
C2

Analyse critically your own role and responsibilities and how they might be
x
extended
Comments:

There is evidence of you taking stock of your roles and responsibilities and considering
where there are opportunities for these to be extended to give you experience in areas
you want to strengthen and develop. There is a well thought through rationale for the
areas you have identified and your plan for your development seems feasible and
realistic. Its good that you identify sources of support and I hope you will use these in
an ongoing way. You are aware that the academic dimensions of the programme may
be a challenge; overall this assignment is quite strong on personal reflection and
weaker on the discussion of theory and ideas. You could consider what will help you
develop a style in which you integrate discussion of your reading more into personal
reflection. Perhaps looking at models of this type of writing would be helpful.
In your analysis you might have made more use of the competences to be specific
about particular aspects that you feel confident in and others which are more stretching.
Your self-evaluation would then have been a bit more detailed.
C3

Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of models and discourses

of professional development

Comments:

Some awareness of these are implicit in your reflections. However, it is important to

discuss these more explicitly. You mention a number of ideas such as autonomous
learners but you tend to assume that the reader knows what you mean. Try to explain
the idea or theory then examine it more critically is it helpful in thinking about your
own experience or challenges? This criterion would have been addressed more fully if
you had explored some of the ideas from the ppt on professional development
presented at the induction.

C4

Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of discourses of

x
professionalism
Comments:

In the section entitled discourses you touch on some of the alternative ways of thinking
about CLD as a profession. Again your awareness of different ideas of what makes a
profession is implicit rather than discussed explicitly. For instance, you refer to the way
in which some professions are defined by the exams which act as gatekeepers to
professional status. What does this mean for the definition of professionalism? A
wider discussion would take your thought further to analysis.
I like that you identify some of the influences on the profession. Some awareness of
the tensions is implicit in what you write but overall you describe the influences rather
than analyse them critically. This criterion would have been addressed more strongly if
you had engaged in more detail with some of the journal papers which were shared.

General Assessment Criteria:

Advanced knowledge, understanding and enhanced capacity must be demonstrated in work
which should exhibit the these qualities of postgraduate performance:
ability to address all parts of the task and to synthesise ideas and information
analysis that goes beyond description and demonstrates critical thinking
exploration of underlying assumptions, theories, perspectives and policy foundations
ability to make insightful links between theory and practice, to direct and support change
and development
impartiality and balance in argument and inference
sharpness and appropriateness of judgement when dealing with complex issues or
problems
clarity and coherence through the effective and critical selection and presentation of
information/data
accordance with academic writing conventions

General Comments on this Course Submission

Dawn, this assignment is a fail because it does not address criterion 3 adequately. However, it
is evident that you are reflecting on yourself and your roles in practice and have a good degree
of self-awareness. You make a few links to reading and it is clear that Brookfields ideas, in
particular, have resonated with you. The amount of reading you refer to in an assignment
needs to be more than this and discussion of those ideas needs to be more explicit and go
beyond simply making a link between your own experience and the authors idea. Remember
the slides in which I built up a paragraph of critical writing, integrating reference to
reading/theory? Try to go back to this and practice doing it yourself. This will help you develop
your writing from description to analysis.
There are some aspects of a submission at post graduate level that require development.
These are all related to the idea of criticality. Being critical is to analyse an issue from a variety
of perspectives and to evaluate the other perspectives to inform your own arguments. The main
weakness in this submission is that it incorporates few perspectives other than your own. I want
to see you trying to make sense of things. Question, question, questionyourself but also
3

theory and in particular policy, which is always ideological. In many ways, we are more
interested in the questions you are asking, rather than the answers you can give us. So some of
the questions you might have asked here are:
What does it mean to different people me, policymakers, colleagues, researchers, young
people - to be a professional?
How is professional learning understood by different people, in different times and different
contexts?
How have I thought about my own learning at different times and in different places?
How do different people see and think about my practice (both CLD practice generally and
my personal practice)?
It can be good to bring in theories and reading you have identified for yourself, but the reading
list you are given is a good starting point which should help you identify the theoretical
perspectives which are most relevant. We gave you some papers as well as some texts on the
reading list on the course descriptors.

Comments on Student Next Steps Statement from Previous Course

n/a
Next Steps
(Please remember to cut and paste these next steps and associated action into the front cover
accompanying the submission of your next course assignment).

Try to use more journal papers and integrate more reference to your reading into your
reflections. Be explicit about examining the ideas you are referring to from your reading,
explaining why they are relevant, how you think they are useful and what you think their
limitations might be. Contrast and compare alternative views. Remember to provide a reference
list in the style described in the library guidelines.