Ashleigh Melrose s2895335

3333THS Sport Development

Personal Reflection & eportfolio

My Sport Development future

Weight: 30% of grade

Wordcount: 1500 words max. including reference list (5 refs minimum)

DUE: Week 13 - Monday 12th October, 12.00pm

Introduction

It has been a long process on deciding where I would like to go with my chosen career path. I
taught English in Vietnam when I was 18. While travelling over the next few years I become
a Snowboard and Ski instructor and taught children and adults all over the world in Japan, the
USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. During this time, I learned a lot about myself, my
strengths and weaknesses and what I require to thrive in a work environment.

This reflection will explain the aspirations that have led me to my chosen career path,
describe the theoretical models that are used for success in achieving the best sources of
personal development and discuss the strengths and weaknesses that I present throughout my
current employment and studies. This will then allow for a clear and guided career path
which advances my skill to its maximum potential so the goal of achieving my dream career
becomes a success.

My career aspirations

My career aspirations from the years I spent learning about myself and travelling the world
lead me to Griffith University where I am currently completing my Bachelor of Business.
Initially the goal was to become a Business Development Manager or a Marketing strategist
on the completion of my degree. However, since studying I have grown and wish to further
myself even more to complete a Master of Secondary education to reach the end goal of
becoming a Physical Education and Business teacher.

The SPLISS model

The SPLISS model is a theoretical sports policy model consisting of factors which overall
lead to international sporting success. The concept strives to cooperate education and sporting
development to organisations and researchers worldwide (de Haan, 2017).
Although the model focuses on elite development on athletes, the same concepts could be
applied to the structure of my personal pursuit of sporting education and development.
By its mission of sharing expertise on innovative high performance, the framework is a solid
guide and proven successful pathway to achieve success and is similar to the frameworks
required to gain knowledge and contacts in the education sector.
Employability success model

More relevant to my chosen career path is an employability model for competency

development and its relation to career success. The study tested associations between
employee participation in competency development and its link to self-perceived
employability (De Vos, 2011). The process understood how individuals and organisations
affect career success. The study proved that with personal development initiatives and
ongoing support from the employer, each factor linked to a higher satisfaction of overall
employability perception (De Vos, 2011). Throughout my working experiences, through
continuing personal development and communication between my employer, I am able to
obtain a higher employable perception and therefore gain an advantage in the workforce.

Key attributes of my chosen career

The key elements that stood out were that I worked best independently day by day but needed
importance on working as a part of a team and a career which enhances other people’s
abilities and is rewarding. Through my work I look for and stay driven by constant challenges
and high engagement and interaction. The work I felt was best and most confident at was
presenting in front of large audiences and building personal connections. My career path
seeks importance on growth and impacting lives in a positive manner.

There are 16 personality types identified by the Myers Briggs type indicator which
categorizes personalities to decipher work ethic amongst individuals (Khamparia, 2018). My
result through the personality trait test resulted in ENFP; someone who is extraverted,
intuitive, feeling and prospecting. My creative drive, big ideas and actions are reflected
through work purposes. It was found in the study of relationship types between personality
and efficacy of teachers, that participants who demonstrated ENFP personality traits were
more common amongst teachers and therefore held a higher efficiency (Roberts, 2007).
Collectively, my personality type, experiences and interest form the key attributes to my ideal
career.

Current strengths and areas for development

The career pathway that I have chosen as a secondary education teacher will allow me to
demonstrate my time management skills and motivate and engage others. My work ethic
thrives in an environment which is challenging, engaging and constantly evolving.
My professional identity seeks importance through the sporting sector as my values and
purpose are solely focused on health and wellbeing and motivating others to excel.
Areas for development include dealing with conflict and strength in applying discipline.
Throughout my Snowsports teaching experiences I felt as though it was something I could
work on. Although dealing with difficulties in the teaching sector prove challenging, this
improvement within myself is something that will come with time and experience in the
workplace and become the sole purpose of value.

My plan for continued development

The plan for engagement with future study and professional development options to advance
my career consist of short term and long-term strategies.

Short term advantages within the competitive industry include building interpersonal skills
and connections. I currently have my TEFL (Teach English in Foreign Language) Certificate,
and Snowboard and Ski instructors’ certification which is a solid base of knowledge and
experience that I have obtained during my pursuit of my chosen career. The biggest issue
facing graduate students is lack of employment in the workforce on completion of their
degree. This is usually due to the lack of experience and skill required for the practical
aspects of the job (Rothwell, 2016). Getting ahead of the competition and gaining further
knowledge and experience is even more critical than ever. To support this, I am working on
my certificate 3 in educational support. By achieving this it will allow me to work as a
teacher aid so that I am already employed by a school in my chosen location before the
completion of my degree and commencement of my masters in secondary education.
Long term development is directed towards the completion of my Masters of Secondary and
obtaining knowledge and contacts throughout my experience as a teacher aid. The pursuit of
increasing innovation and creativity proves to become a leading factor through my education.
Finding a career that is in demand increases the guarantee of success in the workforce on
completion of the applied studies. Teach Queensland talks about the importance on deciding
on teacher location and places importance on teaching experience (Teach Qld, 2020). With
flexibility and experience during studies, I will be able to hold an advantage during
placement and hire ability to achieve the long-term goal of a full-time position on the Gold
Coast.

Conclusion/Summary

In conclusion, my decisions throughout my life have all lead me to my final goal of becoming
a Secondary Physical education and Business teacher. Through the pursuit of experiences and
studies, my strengths and areas of development are able to be continually developed to
achieve the result of my desired career. By using the theoretical models in which they are
applied to support furthering success I am able to apply them to my career development. I am
able to guide these frameworks and integrate them into sourcing information, developing skill
and continuously striving to achieve excellence through my Griffith university studies and
beyond to achieve my ultimate career.
References

de Haan, D. (2017). A Review of the Appropriateness of Existing Micro- and Meso-level

Models of Athlete Development within Equestrian Sport. Retrieved 7 October 2020, from
https://www.narcis.nl/publication/RecordID/oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874%2F360552

De Vos, A., De Hauw, S., & Van der Heijden, B. (2011). Competency development and
career success: The mediating role of employability. Journal Of Vocational Behavior, 79(2),
438-447. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2011.05.010

Khamparia, Aditya (2018). "Effects of visual map embedded approach on students learning
performance using Briggs–Myers learning style in word puzzle gaming course". Computers
& electrical engineering (0045-7906), 66 , p. 531.

Roberts, G., Mowen, D., Edgar, D., Harlin, J., & Briers, G. (2007). Relationships Between
Personality Type And Teaching Efficacy Of Student Teachers. Journal Of Agricultural
Education, 48(2), 92-102. doi: 10.5032/jae.2007.02092

Rothwell, A., & Rothwell, F. (2016). Graduate Employability: A Critical

Oversight. Graduate Employability In Context, 41-63. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-57168-7_2

Teach Qld. (2020). High demand teaching areas. Retrieved 3 October 2020, from
https://teach.qld.gov.au/become-a-teacher/high-demand-teaching-areas

Appendix: portfolio screenshots and hyperlink