Critical readings: progress files and the production of the autonomous learner

Progress files represent a major policy initiative involving the use of Personal Development Planning (PDP) aimed at the production of autonomous learners who are capable of planning for their own career and personal futures.

This paper argues for a more critical approach to PDP which locates it as part of broader shifts within educational policy and practice. The lack of conceptual clarity associated with the term PDP is considered followed by an exploration of the concept of reflection which underpins PDP. A greater critical engagement with the conditions of reflection and an understanding of the limitations of reflection is proposed. The paper then takes up the broader theme of individualization and returns to the major theme of the paper that the sorts of autonomy that are assumed in the practices of PDP are neither neutral nor an accomplished fact.

Reference: Critical readings: progress files and the production of the autonomous learner, Clegg, S., Teaching in Higher Education, Vol. 9, no. 3, 287-298.