My lifestyle means I have the freedom to do what I want when I want but with extended freedom I have great responsibility. My boyfriend works a full time job which means I am at home on my own a lot of the time but this only encourages me to complete my work because I can study in silence with no interruptions. Although I work a part-time job with hours that vary from 16 per week to over 30, I manage my time well in order to complete my assignments. It is a must that I am employed otherwise I cannot pay the bills.
My employment often tends to have a negative effect on my learning because I work long hours and finish late at night which causes me to be tired the next day. I also find that I have very little free time to spend on leisurely activities and occasionally I struggle to complete my college work.
It is the motivation that I possess that encourages me to live the lifestyle that I do in order to reach my career aspirations. My career aspirations are to finish the BTEC level 3 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care at college, and then go to Nottingham University to study a degree in Nursing. After completing my Nursing degree I would like to work at Great Ormond Street. This is only my career aspiration, my general lifestyle aspiration is to finish education as a qualified nurse, buy a house with my savings from employment and then be married and have a child by the time I am thirty years old; although I worry because I want to be able to have a career and a family and be extremely successful in both. It is extremely important I stay motivated for the next 6 years (will have finished education by then) because I need to reach my goal. Both my motivation and career aspiration has a positive effect on me because I want to achieve something in my life and my aspiration is what I would like to achieve.
Time is a factor which has a major impact on my learning and ability to study. I work well under pressure but there is a difference in working under pressure and working in a time scale which isn’t realistic. The time in which I have to study is greatly compromised by my employment and some weeks I find myself without a day off and approximately four hours to complete required study by the college. Limited time forces me to rush my work so I perhaps miss out information and I am not as thorough in my work as I could be. Since starting my college course I have achieved the required grade every time but as my employment hours started to increase I rushed one assignment and I did not achieve the grade.
My friends influence me both positively and negatively. I am influenced positively by them because I complete my assignments before them and they praise me for it but I am negatively influenced by my friends when they make plans for the weekend and I am included. These plans can be a night in or out, or working together to complete an assignment. In reference to Kolb’s learning theory and that of Honey and Mumford I am a converging learner/pragmatists. I prefer to work on my own and get on with things. My friends influence my learning by wanting to work in groups which I find frustrating because I cannot just get on with the work we seem to find other irrelevant things to talk about which wastes time. When my friends want to get together for a night I find that the next day I cannot study because I am too tired and just not in the mood to pick up a book and study.
My friends are not just negative influences though as they do encourage me and as we experience new situations and information together we are able to combine our experiences and learning new skills and information from the experiences and then we are able to contribute feedback to each other.
To reduce the impact of the six factors I have discussed I would have to change the way in which each one affects me.
My lifestyle I find is a positive influence, I could perhaps do with less pressure and stress of having to live away from a large income but from my lifestyle I am encouraged to work harder, be motivated and I have experienced new situations and expanded my general knowledge that I perhaps wouldn’t of if I still lived at home with my parents.
The impact that my employment has on my learning is quite substantial but I am determined and motivated and really do enjoy being busy so I am able to complete the work that my learning requires me too. To reduce my employment hours would mean that I could have more time to complete my college work but then maybe I wouldn’t be so motivated because I wouldn’t be under that pressure to complete work as and when I can.
My future career aspirations keep me thoroughly motivated which is a positive influence, but I may have planned my future in a little too much detail and more than likely add unnecessary pressure on my learning to achieve my aspirations. So in order to reduce the impact of this factor I should concentrate on what is happening now and not 5 or 10 years down the line.
Time tends to affect my learning the most out of all of the factors I have identified. In order to address to impact of this factor and reduce its impact on my learning I should ask my employer if I can have at least two days off to study and that I am not working hours which can affect my sleep or concentration. If I create more time to study I will find that I would be under a lot less pressure.
In order to reduce the impact of my friends on my learning, I should complete all due studying and work before I arrange plans with my friends and as I work better alone than in a group, I should explain this too them so they understand that because of my learning style I find it easier to not work in a group.
The identified factors have an overall positive impact on my learning process because each ensures I am motivated. I am always learning new information, gaining skills and experience and this is because I am always busy. If I had no career aspiration I wouldn’t be so motivated. The limit of time I have to complete each work ensures I do because I cannot stand to hand work in late.
Although there are ways to reduce the impact of the negative factors on my learning, I feel that I am working well and 99% of the time working to the best of my ability, so there is no need to take any action on reducing the influences on my personal learning process.
References.
- (B. Stretch, M. Whitehouse. BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Book 1: 279)
(B. Stretch, M. Whitehouse. BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Book 1: 279)
Bibliography.
All information used in this report was gained from the following sources:
- B. Stretch, M. Whitehouse. BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Book 1: Personal and Professional Development 6.1
Eleisha Wallace-Barber.
BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care.
Personal Professional Development.
