A New Year. A New Beginning?

Many of us associate the new year with a time for making resolutions. As part of that exercise and with particular emphasis on your professional future, it can be useful to consider making an educated plan.

WHY PLAN?
As individual teachers we too need to be aware, not only of  external career forces but, first and foremost, of our own needs and wants in order to avoid the 'aimless bobbing' syndrome. With knowledge, we can make informed decisions about our future and the planning process encompasses the search for that knowledge as well as, future outcomes.

WHAT TO PLAN
Essentially you should try to plan from the micro to the macro. If you are already teaching and you have not already done so, you would do well to plan your job. Whether or not you are currently teaching, you will want to plan your career development. On the grander scale, you will also want to plan your life, which will of course include:- a place to live and its relative comfort; money; savings; pensions; insurance; health care; contact with the important people in your life, opportunities for hobbies and interests, according to your own priorities. Teaching abroad can seem exotic and very appealing but if any one of the former go badly awry, the appeal will soon wane.

HOW TO PLAN
Clearly each individual's plan will be particular to them just as it will be ever changing through the progress of time. Therefore, it is not our intention to propose the perfect plan but rather to suggest a framework which you might use to help you plan. Also, it is important to bear in mind that a plan is just that and is subject to change. Utilising a planning framework should enable you to encompass change without losing direction.

'Getting to know you'

Before we can effectively move forward we need to consider where we are now and what we need/want to change. The following considerations are set in the context of: - where you are now, in your job - but could apply to other contexts:

- my strengths are:-
- the things I particularly like about my job are:-
- my beliefs and values are:-
- the tasks I have performed particularly well are:-
- the tasks I could have performed better are:-
- the reasons preventing me from being more effective were:-
- the areas that I am unclear about are:-
- the help/extra guidance I need to perform more effectively is:-

After candidly addressing the above, and before putting your job plan together, you might also usefully consider:  what your priorities are and what you want to achieve; what are the needs of others, e.g. students/ employing organisation; what is new that could be useful; who needs to be involved; and what resources are available.

The Job Plan
Your job plan should be:

- made up of objectives
- cover a set time period, e.g. length of contract or one academic year
- established as early as possible
- agreed between you and your line management
- used with your job description to set and agree standards of performance
- about improvement, new departures and progress
- flexible and able to be changed
- relate to higher level plans, e.g. those of the employing organisation

Setting objectives
When setting objectives it is important that they are SMART, i.e. specific; measurable; agreed; realistic and timebound.
Setting standards in our job plan, it is important to know not only what tasks we intend to undertake but to what standard of performance. It is to the teacher's advantage that performance standards are agreed and measured by both staff and management as that way one avoids unrealistic expectations on either side and so, potential conflict, while allowing for achievements to be recognised.

Performance standards should be realistic, appropriate and measurable and should be reviewed along with the job plan on an agreed regular basis. Standards can be set in terms of  quality; quantity; time; and cost and should be incorporated in the plan's objectives. To summarise, objectives should be agreed jointly, should include agreed measures of measurement and an agreed realistic time scale. They should be achievable yet challenging and allow you, the teacher, to decide how they should be achieved and to use them for your personal development. Finally, they should be reviewed regularly.

YOUR PERSONAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN
In addition to the self questioning and objective setting within the framework of your job plan, you will also want to consider longer term career development. The process is the same, while some of the considerations may be different, e.g.,

Where do I want to go?
- in the long term                      
- in the short term
- in my professional relationships              
- in my learning/development

How can I get there?
- action I can take in the long term              
- people and/or resources I need to help me      
- human/physical resources available to me
- my SMART goals are

Often when we think of career development the first thing that comes to mind is a training course. While these have undoubted value, there is a gamut of other options which can enhance our personal and professional growth. Some examples are:
- on the job training                      
- coaching/partnering/shadowing
- mentoring                          
- brainstorming
- project teams                      
- work group specific training
- seminars with colleagues/peers              
- substitution
- observation                      
- keeping a personal journal
- videos/audio tapes                  
- action research
- reading professional journals and texts          
- subscribing to ELT e. lists
- trawling the vast resources of the Internet

MEASURING SUCCESS AND REVIEWING OBJECTIVES

For any plan to be current and effective it requires regular review and re-adjustment, therefore it is important to build in review dates to the original plan.

Also, if your objectives are SMART and include performance standards, measurement of degrees of achievement and identification of new objectives will be facilitated. This way, you should be able to stay ahead of the tide and stay on course in the personal direction you choose.