The PIDP is just the latest progression in my lengthy ongoing professional and personal development plan. My profession has had requirements for formal educational and personal development mandated for years. Earning my professional designation had a requirement for career progression and work experience in more senior positions. Throughout my career I had personal objectives that included taking relevant courses and training in parallel with the required professional development. About 3 years ago I started working on a plan to transition to a new career as a post-secondary instructor or business trainer to leverage my work experience and joined VCC’s PID program. To gain hands-on related experience I joined the mentorship program at work to act as a mentor for new managers and I volunteered with the CPA Financial Literacy program to lead seminars on personal financial management practices.
My goal is to use my experience as a professional finance manager to move into instructing or training as a way to ‘pay-it-forward’ to new entrants in the field. I have coached, trained, mentored and developed individuals in a business environment for years and I chose to take the PIDP to formally learn and strengthen my knowledge, skills and abilities in this area. This was the opportunity to learn all the foundational and detailed things about teaching adults. I took a 1-day adult education course years ago when I started teaching night school but the world of pedagogy has evolved and grown exponentially since then. Taking the PID program now has given me the legitimacy to apply with educational institutions for positions as an instructor.
Adult education has changed most dramatically with the widespread introduction of technology and online learning tools. My 3-year journey with the PID program is coming to a close and I have the opportunity to apply what I’ve learned in a real world as a part-time college instructor starting in September. I expect the learning curve to be very steep and the transition may to be a bit wobbly as I muddle through and experience real time the many concepts I’ve studied. The adult student and his/her expectations will be challenging but the PIDP has provided information and the opportunity to reflect on how to work through however this manifests itself. I’ve changed jobs, employers, roles and responsibilities several times over my career and becoming an instructor will be a big change but I’ve added a lot of tools to my toolbox as I’ve gone along and expect to continue to learn and adapt. I will continue as a lifelong learner with professional development requirements for both my designation and my role as a post-secondary educator. I plan to still be teaching in 5 years but if it doesn’t work out or something else comes up I am prepared to deal with that too.