documenting professional practice through a portfolio ... · documenting professional practice...

Goo00005c

Documenting professional practice through a portfolio: Empowerment of self

(Overview of the presentation at the AARE conference held at the University of Sydney, 4-7 December 2000)

Dr Joy Goodfellow

University of Western Sydney

[email protected]

My presentation to day will focus on the rationale for the development and assessment of what I call a Professional Portfolio. In making the presentation I want to enable you to understand how I have come to supporting the development of Professional Portfolios, provide you with the guidelines for development of professional portfolios and discuss the value of such an undertaking.

INTRODUCTION

I will begin by identifying some factors that I think have largely influenced my promotion of a portfolio development as a professional activity. These influences include

• my awareness of what I call the changing face of early childhood education and, maybe, the need for a different profile of the early childhood educator than what has been expected and accepted in the past

• my understandings about reflection and keeping of professional journals as a process of reflective activity;

• literature about teacher's professional lives and studies of learning to teach; • understandings drawn from research and personal experience with student teachers

and cooperating teachers responsible for student teachers • insights gained from innovative programs for young children.

Last year, as coordinator of early childhood professional experience I was faced with the challenge of planning and organising the professional experience program for 24 students who were practicing Montessori teachers updating their qualifications to a Bachelor of Education (early childhood). There were few constraints on how I developed the program other than

• I had a period of 8 months from March to October to conduct the program • Most students were in full-time employment in early childhood centres • Students were also concurrently studying at least one other subject • Study associated with professional experience was largely to be undertaken using

packaged material with the support of some Saturday classes • Professional Experience task requirements needed to be undertaken at their place of

employment through their every day activities and responsibilities. However, students needed to meet the same standards as those required of regular undergraduate students.

The challenge (for me) of working with students who had an initial 'teaching' qualification but that qualification and the practices in which they engaged had a very different theoretical base from that of the program of study in which they were now enrolled.

I am interested in what I describe as 'the thinking person' and the complexities of teaching. As I work through these challenges I am reminded of a comment by Howard Gardner

One does not just teach and learn. One makes choices about what to teach, how to teach it, and why it should be taught and learned. (Gardner, 1999, p.79)

These, claims Gardner, are 'value judgements'. So in my considerations, I was making value judgements.

CONSIDERATIONS

Understandings about reflection and keeping of professional journals

I place value on the activity of reflection that, in my view, has a high component of analysis as well as requiring both scrutiny and meaning making. My experience has been that the keeping of reflective professional journals can be enlightening to both the keeper and the reader of the journal if the reflections are insightful and analytical. Reflection and journal writing are personal activities but they also occur in context. That is, they are contextualised both within our personal experiences and the broader system within which those experiences occur.

Factors that contribute to reflection include the ability to look inside the self and address higher order cognitive functions such as problem-solving; problem-finding, and deeper understanding as one reflects on events, experiences and circumstances. Gardner suggests that, outside philosophy, reflection on one's own thinking and one's own representation is a relatively new phenomenon (Gardner, 1999, p.74). Reflection honours the self, however, the depth of reflection and the degree to which that reflection may lead to effective communication depends on understandings about relationships (.

The 'pedagogy of listening' is an important consideration in relation to reflection. Listening has been used elsewhere (Rinaldi, 1999) as a metaphor for having the capacity to be sensitive to the myriad of symbols, sounds and codes that enable communication to occur. It involves the capacity to not only be receptive but responsive to others. Listening also reflects the capacity to (re)'construct contexts in which one learns to listen' (Rinaldi, 1999, p7). It seems to me that decisions about teaching and learning, the nature of relationships and the establishment of effective communication are all reliant on the openness and sensitivity that emanates from effective listening.

Literature about teacher's professional lives and studies of learning to teach

I have been strongly influenced by the work and writing of Ken Zeichner (1999) who has drawn on the thinking of others such as Donald Schon (1983, 1987) concerning reflective practice and of Max Van Manen (1990) writings on phenomenology and the nature of lived experience. Recently Zeichner (1999) wrote briefly about studies of learning to teach in

which he identified 'how difficult it is to change the tacit beliefs, understandings and worldviews that students bring to teacher education progams' (p.11). Zeichner's comments echo those made by Wideen, Mayer-Smith and Moon (1998) who, after reviewing 93 empirical studies on learning to teach formed the view that

teaching is a deeply personal activity in which the individual concerned has to deal with his or her prior beliefs (p.161)

Wideen et al concluded that

programs of teacher education... must be created to assist beginning teachers to examine their beliefs and to understand how to support new practices that are consistent with their changed beliefs (p.169)

They recommended that if teacher education programs wished to bring about change in student's beliefs and assumptions about teaching then those programs should engage student in 'deliberative exploration' of those beliefs and in reflection over extensive periods of time. Some of this deliberative exploration can be undertaken through storying (Carter, 1993; McLean 1999).

Here I was, trying to support students through a professional development program where they were coming from a very different philosophical base and so were not only required to demonstrate practices reflecting a different philosophical approach but undertake some of these in the centres in which they were currently employed.

Understandings drawn from research and personal experience with student teachers and cooperating teachers responsible for student teachers

It is difficult for me to pinpoint those factors that contributed to who I am as a teacher educator but I can recall events that have had a lasting impression on me. Those that seem to be particularly significant are instances where I have had new insights what I describe as the lived experience of becoming and being a teacher.

Those insights have come in different forms but one of the most impressive forms is the reflective comment written by students in professional journals. Another, is the opportunity to story and restory professional experiences with those engaged in such experiences. During a study of the lived experiences of cooperating teachers I was able to write stories of events and insights reported to me by the cooperating teachers and then revisit these stories with the cooperating teachers who initially told those stories (Goodfellow, 1995).

Insights gained from innovative programs for young children

From an adult perspective, the recording of real life experiences in a professional journal keeping can be a powerful form of professional development. Journal writing enables us not only to take 'snapshots of our working lives' but also to record our interpretations of these snapshots (Holly, 1997, p.23). From a phenomenological perspective, the opportunity to uncover, describe and interpret events within our professional lives can contribute significantly to our understandings about who we are as professionals (Van Manen, 1990).

It is documentation of another form that has intrigued me. That is the documentation of children's work and ideas that has formed the basis for pedagogical work in the innovative and what has become world renown children's programs at Reggio Emilia in Italy. The powerfulness of documentation within these programs speaks not only to the teachers and other adults who visit the centres but also to the children whose work is documented.

Building on understandings about the effectiveness of professional journal as a reflective tool it seemed to me that documentation of professional practice has potential that remains an untapped source of professional development.

I have outlined the purposes of the Professional Portfolio in Attachment A that accompanies this paper. The attachment is directed towards undergraduate teacher education students. It was distributed to a group of students (who were practicing teachers) and who chose to undertake the development of a professional portfolio as a project within a research subject they are undertaking in order to complete a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) degree.

(An example of the application of these guidelines will be shared with conference participants)

Following the distribution of the guidelines, a second paper was prepared to identify those aspects of the professional portfolio that would be addressed in the assessment process. Attachment B is a draft of the assessment document.

CONCLUSION

The Ramsay Report, a most recent review of teacher education in New South Wales, in commenting of professional experience is critical of the apparent lack of opportunity for student teachers to be involved in 'sustained immersion in the craft of the profession' (Ramsay, 2000, p.60). This immersion refers not only to the amount of time engaged in professional experience but the lack of 'seamless transition' between university and professional experience placement contexts; between pre-service education and subsequent professional employment; and, understandings about the nature of being a teacher. If professionals are going to improve the quality of what occurs in classrooms whether they be in schools or in early childhood centres (whether they be pre-schools, kindergartens of long day care centres), then attention needs to be given to establishing those processes that foster and enhance professional development. Support for the development of a professional portfolio is one way of establishing a foundation to address these issues.

Schoenfeld (1999) argues that

The cognitive community... (and I include teachers here) ... has failed to make substantial progress on issues of self identity, of social interactions, of what it means to be a member of a community - and of how all of that relates to who we are, what we perceive, and what we do (p.5).

The professional portfolio has the potential to address some of these issues. A student, having completed her professional portfolio considered it to be a 'dynamic document' (Linda). As such, it enables a developing professional to not only reflect on their practices but provide a testament to those practices in a way that is enriching and empowering. If education is to be designed for understanding (Gardner, 1999) then the professional portfolio provides an essential element in that process. Documentation not only reveals the nature of teachers' work but honours that work through an exposition of professional practices.

REFERENCES

Carter, K. (1992). The place of story in the study of teaching and teacher education. Educational Researcher, 22(1), 5-12.

Gardner, H. (1999). The disciplined mind: what all students should understand. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Goodfellow, J. (1995). Cooperating teachers' images: A study in early childhood. PhD thesis. The University of Sydney.

Holly, M.L. (1997). Keeping a professional journal (2nd Ed.). Geelong: Deakin University Press.

McLean, S. V. (1999). Becoming a teacher: the person in the process. In R.P. Lipka & T.M. Brinthaupt (Eds.), The role of self in teacher development (pp55-91). Albany: SUNY.

Ramsay, G. (2000). Review of teacher education in New South Wales.

Rinaldi, C. (January, 1999). Visible listening. Rechild: Reggio Children newsletter. p.7.

Schoenfeld, A.H. (1999). Looking toward the 21st century: challenges of educational theory and practice. Educational Researcher, 28(7), 4-14.

Schon, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books.

Schon, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the profession. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Van Manen, Max (1990). Researching lived experience. Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Albany: SUNY.

Winsor. P.J.T. (1998). A guide to the development of professional portfolios in the Faculty of Education. Lethbridge, Alberta: University of Lethbridge.

Wideen, M., Mayer-Smith, J., & Moon, B. (1998). A critical analysis of the research on learning to teach: Making the case for an ecological perspective on inquiry. Review of Educational Research, 68(2), 130-178.

Zeichner, K. (1999). The new scholarship in teacher education. Educational Researcher, 28 (9), 4-15.

ATTACHMENT A

The Professional Portfolio

Joy Goodfellow

Coordinator of early childhood professional experience


Penrith

Definition

A professional portfolio is a collection of artifacts and reflections on one's professional attributes. These attributes reflect those qualities that are indicative of and valued by the profession. A professional portfolio is testimony to acquired knowledge, professional practice and personal attributes. The collection of artifacts (reflecting values and beliefs) is designed to show or demonstrate a professional's capacity to work in ways regarded by the profession to reflect those standards that the profession values. Therefore, the portfolio may include documentation that provides interpreted examples and reflections on practices. The material collected for the portfolio may also include attestations by peers concerning the professional's work practices. Personal reflections on practices are also important additions to the portfolio as they provide interpretative comments in relation to both the attributes and the artifacts included in the portfolio.

Essentially, the development of a professional portfolio is a way of researching and evaluating the 'professional self'. As such, the strategies used in presenting professional practices within the professional portfolio and the form of the presentation of that research is as much a reflection of the 'self' as is the documentation itself. The portfolio can be seen as a file (even an electronic or multimedia file) or folder that contains and displays such research.

The purposes of a professional portfolio

Documentation of and reflection on professional work within and through a professional portfolio may serve a number of purposes. A professional portfolio offers opportunities to:

• demonstrate, display and highlight aspects of one's own practice in relation to those practices that are valued by the profession

• provide analytical and interpretative records of reflection on practices for ones own benefit

• establish a basis for furthering one's own professional development • identify for others, those particular qualities that are indicative of one's professional

work

• document the purposefulness of teaching.

In presenting a (personal) professional portfolio you are presenting material that characterises yourself and distinguishes your practices, values and beliefs from those of another professional in the same professional field.

Winsor (1998) explains that:

'Each teacher's portfolio is a display of individual goals, growth, and achievement, as well as a testimony to acquired knowledge, and professional and personal attributes. In other words, it may be the most valuable three-ring binder a teacher ever possesses.'

What should be included in a professional portfolio?

The professional portfolio essentially contains a set of documents and reflections deemed to reflect those attributes required/expected of the practicing professional.

Documentation

It is important to consider both variety and the selection of items to be included in the professional portfolio. Each of the items or artifacts must be accompanied by a caption and a written reflection that both interprets and explains the basis upon which the item has been selected and what it intends to demonstrate.

Documents to be included in the professional portfolio may include examples of work such as:

• photographs and interpretative statements about teaching/learning • records and interpretations of children's work as a demonstration of particular

practices • examples of classroom organisation and planning for children's learning • abstracts of articles or papers presented at workshops/seminars • records of staff planning meetings in which your have taken a major role • evidence of communication with parents (and statements from parents about aspects

of your work) • invitations to participate in community networks as a representative of the profession.

While the documentation provides evidence, that evidence must be presented in an integrated way within your portfolio. One of the ways in which the material can be organised is through a structured approach that commences with the identification of professional attributes.

Professional attributes

If the professional portfolio is to be a reflection of self in relation to those attributes that are valued by the profession then the attributes relating to a particular profession may be drawn from a number of sources. In early childhood education in Australia, these sources may include:

• the Australian Early Childhood Code of Ethics

• the National Child Care Accreditation Council's QIAS Principles • the National Child Care Competency Standards • the Department of School Education Beginning Teacher attributes.

Attributes may be grouped under headings similar to those presented by Benellis & Wolf (2000). If attributes are taken directly from one or other of the documents listed above then for each attributes it is important to state

• the attribute • your interpretation of the attribute, and • the ways in which you demonstrate the attribute through your work.

In identifying how you demonstrate each particular attribute you may also be making belief statements about your work with children and families as well as providing examples of and reflections on your practices.

Another way in which the attributes and other elements (such as values and beliefs) relating to your work as a professional may be organised is as follows:

1. Introduction

State who you are and your role. Make an overarching statement about yourself in relation to working with young children and adults.

2. Professional goals

State current goals and how you are working on these.

3. Professional development

Indicate why you value professional development and how it contributes to your practices. Identify and explain the purpose of including particular documents that verify and reflect your professional growth and experiences during recent years.

4. Classroom environment

Identify how you have established learning environments for children, how you manage those environments and why you believe this to be an important context for learning. You may wish to select some photographs for inclusion here but make sure you explain the purpose of including the photographs and what they show.

5. Planning for individuals and groups

Provide some examples that indicate how you provide for children's growth and development and how this reflects your (and the centre's) philosophy. For example, Activity Plans may show how your knowledge about the interests of individual children has provided an impetus for further planning

6. Teaching and relationships with children

Describe and reflect on your strengths as a teacher. What have you experienced that influences your practices? Why is it important to work in this way? How do your strengths influence children's development? Display and describe purposeful interactions with children. How do you honour and show respect for children?

7. Parent and family communication

Here you might identify what you believe to be important about teacher/parent communication, indicate the variety of strategies that you employ in establishing effective relationships with parents and reflect on those aspects of your role that demonstrate your capabilities in this area.

8. 9. Staff relationships

Again, say what is important about establishing positive staff relationships and your role in this.

9. Professional community

In this section you can refer to how you participate in activities within the wider early childhood community and resource/work with other professionals.

1. Reflection on the process of portfolio development

In this final section your can make statements about the process of developing a portfolio and reflect on the experience. Such reflections should enable you to identify a number of further goals that you would like to address in your journey as an early childhood professional.

Below is an extract from one student teacher's reflection:

When first presented with the idea of a professional experience portfolio, I felt quite overwhelmed by the thought of how to organise and present the (portfolio) as well as how to validate my work as a professional.

After much thought and discussion with colleagues, the concept began to unfold and I soon realised what a valuable and relevant experience this would be. It is truly amazing to actually think about how many roles we do fill as early childhood educators and how we are able to integrate them into a whole "teacher". I found it an interesting journey to map, document, and validate who I am as a professional in this field, and to realise the many skills and abilities that I possess. It has also been an exhilarating experience to learn of the respect that I have from colleagues and families that I have worked with.

It was interesting to first have to devise the sections for the portfolio and then to give deep consideration as to what I though best demonstrated my best practices in my work. I feel that I have given much thought as to what skills and abilities that I hold with regard to each section, and this has involved a great deal of self reflection and evaluation. This (portfolio) has also helped to consolidate my concept of who I am as a teacher.....

I consider this portfolio to be a dynamic document that will grow and change along with my journey as an early childhood professional (Linda, 1999).

Belief statements and examples of work practices

Essentially, the portfolio should provide documentation that identifies and reflects a set of belief statements (or philosophies) that address such things as:

• approaches to teaching and learning • record keeping including program planning and development • strategies to evaluate teaching/learning and program development • • statements concerning inclusion of children with additional needs, diversity and

indigenous Australians

• parent/professional liaison • community involvement, consultations with other professionals etc. • self-assessment, professional development of self and support given to others in

order to enhance their professional expertise • new initiatives or improvements in relationships both within the profession and

between yourself as a professional and the wider community.

Examples and reflections

As explained previously, a variety of forms of documentation may be included. What is important, however, is that you describe and interpret each document, justifying its inclusion in the portfolio.

Attestations

In addition, the professional portfolio can include attestations from others about your work. This documentation may include:

• sample letter from parent indicating satisfaction with particular aspects of your work • written comments from peers/supervisor or external evaluators • certificate(s) indicating participation in relevant workshops.

In brief, the professional portfolio describes (and provides evidence of) your philosophy, your abilities and accomplishments as well as your aspirations in relation to your role as an early childhood educator.

Preparing the professional portfolio

Just as it is important to prepare an outline when undertaking any research writing so too is it important to begin with an outline when preparing a professional portfolio. The professional attributes referred to earlier, are only a suggestion about how to approach the development of your portfolio. They are designed to get you started on the process. However, even before you begin to write down your outline, you will need to have in mind what it is that you are going to convey/reveal about your professional expertise and how you might validate this. You should have also written philosophical statements about your practices and considered the ways in which you can provide documentation that 'attests' to those practices. These notations will assist you in thinking about the organisation of your portfolio.

Organising the portfolio

The portfolio is a professional presentation. Therefore, it should not only meet professional expectations with regard to organisation and selection of physical components in terms of paper and type of folder in which the contents will be placed but it should also mirror your philosophy and style.

Standard components

The professional portfolio will most often include:

• a folder, possibly a ring loose-leaf folder so that pages can be readily inserted • an outside cover that clearly indicates that this is a Professional Portfolio and • • indentifies the owner • cover page in appropriate style and font • contents page • divider pages to separate sections. When designing divider pages it is a good idea to

create a template so that font, spacing and sizes are consistent throughout. • wordprocessed information presented on appropriate business-like paper with font

and layout that is consistent throughout. If other than white paper is chosen then the colour must be pleasing to the eye and have a professional look. Where borders and graphics are used then these should be consistently presented throughout the portfolio.

• plastic acetate sleeves for the inclusion of original artifacts and pages with captions that display either scanned or actual photographs that are adequately adhered to the page.

Method of organisation

The sections within the professional portfolio should reflect the major attributes that you have identified as being relevant to your professional expertise and to the attributes that you have identified earlier. These sections should be readily linked so that they subsequently provide a holistic view of you as a professional.

Captions

Each of the photographs, samples of work or other related material must include captions. The caption should address the five W's - who, what, when, where, and why. In recording why the artifact has been included it is important that the comments:

• provide insight into the importance of including the particular artifact • be reflective, and • refer to what you have learnt as a result of this event.

Artifacts

While most professionals are required to have particular attributes that are common it is critical that the artifacts placed within the professional portfolio are able to validate, justify and support your claim to those attributes. Wyatt and Looper (1999) claim that the selection of artifacts is one of the most crucial areas in portfolio development. The artifacts should be able to provide convincing evidence.

Language

Wyatt and Looper (1999) advise that:

'The style of language, sentence structure, introductory and closing paragraphs, spelling accuracy, colourful words, analogies, and narrative clarity influence the evaluator's opinion about your level of development... Just as the physical constructs of the portfolio reflect who you are, so does your language.' (p.72)

Timeline for development of the professional portfolio

The preparation of professional portfolio requires time, thought and careful analysis before you reach the point of collecting relevant documentation and writing up your analysis and reflections. I suggest that your plan your time backwards from the date

that you are required to present your portfolio so that you can give sufficient time to the write-up phase and to the collection of relevant documentation. As background, I suggest that you at least read the references paying particular attention to McLean (1998) and Retallick et al (1999). The next step is to decide what you want to highlight about yourself as a professional and how you might do this. You will need six to eight weeks (equivalent full-time) to gather the information/documentation and other evidence. Then you will need at least three weeks for the write-up and presentation.

REFERENCES

Benelli, C., & Wolf, M. J. (2000). Moving beyond our assumptions of education and learning: the role of portfolios in professional development. Paper presented at the ACEI Annual International Conference & Exhibition held in Baltimore, Maryland, April 19, 2000.

Lyons, N. (Ed.) (1998). Constructing narratives for understanding: Using portfolio interviews to scaffold teacher reflection. In Nona Lyons, With portfolio in hand: Validating the new teacher professionalism (pp. 103-119). New York: Teachers College Press.

McLean, S. Vianne (1999). Becoming a teacher: the person in the process. In Lipka, R. P., & Brinthaupt, T. M. (Eds.). The role of self in teacher development (pp.55-91) Albany: SUNY.

Retallick, J,, Groundwater-Smith, S., & Clancy, S. (1999). Enhancing teacher engagement with workplace learning. The Australian Educational Researcher, 26(3), 15-36.

Winsor, P.J.T. (1998). A guide to the development of professional portfolios in the Faculty of Education. (Revised Edition). Faculty of Education, University of Lethbridge, Alberta.

Wyatt III, R. L. & Looper, S. (1999). So you have to have a portfolio: a teacher's guide to preparation and presentation. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

ATTACHMENT B


School of Learning Development and Early Education

Subject: Research & Evaluation (Early childhood)

Assessment of Professional Portfolio

Overview

Handout notes on The Professional Portfolio (Goodfellow, 2000) indicated that the purposes of a professional portfolio include:

• the demonstration, display and highlighting of aspects of one's own professional practice in relation to those practices that are valued within the profession

• the provision of an analytical and interpretative record of reflection on professional practices for one's own benefit

• the establishment of a basis for furthering one's own professional development

• the identification, for others, of those particular qualities or attributes that are indicative of one's own professional work.

Essentially, the development of a professional portfolio can be regarded as 'researching self'.

Assessment of the professional portfolio has been designed to address these purposes through attention to the content and organisation of the portfolio. In particular, the content of a professional portfolio needs to display the student's ability to:

• articulate the philosophical basis for their professional practices

• address critical professional attributes

• interpret and reflect upon the nature of these attributes and how they are enacted in practice

• be discerning and selective in selecting artifacts to be included in the portfolio

• link or integrate professional practice statements with evidence of those practices and reflections on professional growth

• document critical reflections on the development of the professional portfolio.

The portfolio must written, organised and presented in a professional manner with evidence of time and thought being given to the process.

Assessment of Professional Portfolio

Name of student .............................................................................

Assessment topic area

Comments

1. Ability to clearly identify professional goals, document achievements in relation to these and provide evaluative and reflective comments

· Extent to which documentation has been able to demonstrate (and scrutinise) personal growth

· Ability of documentation to demonstrate professional competencies

· Extent to which documentation provides evidence of understandings of children and their capacity as learners

· Evidence of links between understandings of children and professional practice with the children

· Evidence of ability to be

selective about samples of work to be included in the portfolio and extent of validation of these samples

· Demonstration of a professional approach to presentation of the portfolio as a reflection of self as an early childhood professional

General comment:

Lecturer ............................................... Date: / /