My name is Ajmal Sultany, and I am currently working at City University London for the Learning Development Centre as a Research Assistant. I recently graduated from Brunel University with a degree in Psychology. For the first few years of my life I grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan until we moved to London, England in 1994. I am the the third of four boys, and I live with my family.

 

This portfolio showcases some of my accomplishments and experiences thus far, as well as the places I would like to go in the future. I hope you enjoy taking a look at my story as I have moved from settling down in England, where my professional development was bleak (to say the least), to moving forward in life and completing the degree in BSc Psychology class of 2008. From 1994 and 2009 my Personal Development and Professional Development have gone through varies stages whether it be academically, volunteer based or general development.

Work at LDC

 

In it's aim to promote and foster a culture of learning development, the Learning Development Centre led by Dr Susannah Quinsee, provides an integrated support service for staff in curriculum development, design and delivery; champions the enhancement of academic practice and innovation, including new technologies; supports the delivery of key strategic objectives and policies relating to learning development; offers a range of professional development opportunities, including formal teaching qualifications; and acts as a focal point for staff engaging in learning, teaching and support activities.

 

Since joining in January, I have been fortunate enough to be involved in a range LDC activities. Some of the more 'milestone' type include:

 

The search for a new Virtual Learning Environment  

 

This project is University wide and involves the collaboration of all the seven academic schools supported by many central services. We are in the final stages of the tendering process, which will result in the selection of a new VLE for City University. So far I have played a supporting role to the LDC leading role in the project and have been a contributor to two summary reports that will feed into the final evaluation document; one of which was a CitySpace Survey report.

 

Pebble Pad Research

 

I assisted in the research into staff and student user perception of the Pebble Pad e-portfolio platformand City University's processes in supporting it. This involved deploying a survey and carrying out follow up focus groups; the final report will be presented to all stakeholders. One aspect of this research will be presented in an international conference on Wednesday the 24th of June 2009. This will be my first research presentation (although I wont be actually presenting it instead it will be presented by Neal Sumner - project manager, but you know what I mean) in an international level.

 

Student Assessment Feedback

 

Research assistant to team investigating assessment feedback practices in the School of Social Sciences. We have now carried our four focus groups, which were recorded for transcribing and notes were taken for general thematic points. In my role, I was also able to disseminate good practices in focus group research gained from experiences sources and draw up the first draft of the assessment feedback. I then represented the research team to present the findings of the study to the assessment criteria and feedback practices working group.

 

Presentation in Conference

 

I will be presenting my research on the 'Effective use of PowerPoint in the UK HE' in the Learning Development at City conference . Again I feel that this is great development in my CPD and I feel blessed at having my abstract accepted and to have the opportunity to change the way PowerPoint is used in HE. I have reflected on this achievement here .

Volunteering

 

Currently I am a helpline volunteer for Muslim Youth Helpline (MYH), a service similar to the Samaritans but with a cultural and faith context. More specifically, MYH is a registered charity with a core service of a free and confidential Helpline service run by young Muslim volunteers, and an online support service called muslimyouth.net. As a helpline worker, I come across various issues that the Muslim youth are affected by which are very similar to other British youth yet young Muslims are increasingly reluctant to access mainstream support services for fear of being discriminated and misunderstood, and conversely mainstream support services are struggling to serve hard to reach minority Muslim youth.

 

As well as providing a much needed service to this group, MYH has always aimed to act as a bridge between mainstream services and its clients and wherever we can, actively encourage our clients to access mainstream services for more specialist support. MYH hold Full-Voting membership of the Telephone Helplines Association who independently assess our policy documents and govern our practice. MYH was also awarded the Investors in People Standard in October 2005. I have tried to get involved in other areas also, such as fundraising, publicity and recently I was in the interview panel for the recruitment new helpline volunteers.

Leadership

 

In the summer of 2008, I completed the Adab Trust Leadership programme. The Adab trust is a charity dedicated to increasing graduate level employment outcomes for inner-city UK resident (permanent) and EU students from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. The Adab Trust has developed a six-step programme (including SHL ability tests and the Odgers Ray & Berndtson (Odgers) assessment centre) called Leadership by Example. This programme aims to prepare graduates, graduate-calibre and graduating students for the challenging and competitive recruitment processes associated with graduate level jobs.

 

I went through different 'test' stages: after the initial application form completion, I was given an online numerical ability and verbal reasoning tests through SHL Group PLC. This was followed by three interview sessions with employees at different organisations, including Google. The purpose of these interviews was to gain valuable extra information about students that cannot be gained from the results of their tests; focusing on competencies in the main. My feedback was generally positive and with some areas of development - see here . Only those students who meet the requirements at Stage 3 and who are successful at Stage 4 will attend the assessment centre run by Odgers the UK's leading recruitment consultancy. The assessment involved a battery of assessments including group work, presentations, writing test and an interview. My feedback for the assessment day is here . The successful completion of this programme was a great achievement for me and an unforgettable experience.

Life Coach Diploma

 

Currently I am undertaking a diploma to be a LIFE COACH with the Coaching Academy. As part of my CPD, I believe this diploma will not only allow me to become a capable and effective life coach but also a capable and effective team worker at LDC.

 

The diploma is deeply steeped in personal communication techniques and how to bring the best out of people and the situation. I have already learnt much useful and practical information such as 'power questioning' and allowing people to make their own decisions and life choices.

 

You can follow my blog here, as I aim to record my progression through the year long diploma.