(Infographic by The University of Edinburgh, 2008)
Teaching
ePortfolios as Evidence for One’s Practicum
How practical and useful are these portfolios?
By Prof. Jonathan
Acuña Solano
Thursday, August 26,
2015
Twitter: @jonacuso
Post
189
“Reflective self-assessment
is a key competency and the most challenging aspect of learning to be a teacher”
(Jaaniten, 2013) . At Universidad
Latina, as part of my Teaching Practicum training for ELT student teachers,
reflection is key to have learners reflect upon their teaching practice and
their experiences in a classroom with real learners. Our student teachers, as
well as any graduate instructor elsewhere, “can learn a lot about teaching by discussing it and
talking about materials and techniques but, like most skills, including using a
language effectively, [they] can’t really learn it without doing it” (Gower, Phillips, & Walters, 2005) . However, where
should reflections be stored to attest one’s teaching reflections, materials,
or even lesson plans? Is a teaching ePortfolio the answer to the former
question?
As Jaaniten (2013) puts it, “it is a
constant challenge in teacher education to integrate theoretical knowledge with
teaching practice.” Student teachers or teachers in in-service training tend to
produce lots of materials and reflect upon their particular teaching
circumstances and challenges derived from their comprehension of theory and
teaching strategies, but where is all that data going? It needs to be placed
somewhere so others can see it. For instance, at Universidad Latina it is not
mandatory to keep an ePortfolio to store and organize thoughts and materials,
student teachers are encouraged to keep one that can later on be used as
evidence for one’s teaching practicum experiences, especially when one lacks
work experience as a language teacher with a tenure. By means of teaching
ePortfolios that instructors can keep, “the builder constructs meaning, makes
the learning process transparent and learning visible, crystallises insights,
and anticipates future direction” (Jaaniten, 2013) in their current or
future teaching.
If you are still wondering what a
teaching portfolio or ePortfolio is, let us point out some of its most salient
characteristics. As it can be viewed at the Center for Teaching of the
Vanderbilt University (n.d.), these are the most relevant characteristics of a
portfolio:
“Student teachers learn to reflect, set personal goals, develop their teacher identity, work more autonomously and collaborate”
The benefits for ePortfolios for
language professionals or student teachers are many, and it is a great idea to
have one of yours to be used as evidence that can attest one’s life as a
language teacher or any other kind of instructor, because “through narrative
texts, student teachers are able to express their personal voices and be heard
by others” (Jaaniten, 2013) such as their
college professors, their mentors in school, their supervisors or coaches, and
their peers. If all language teachers were into having an ePortfolio to
validate their teaching experiences, it will be simply awesome to count with
all this reflective journaling that can help readers understand who these
teachers are, what these individuals aspire in their professional life, and the
level of mindfulness that can be actually seen in their writings, planning, and
so on.
References
Gower, R., Phillips, D., & Walters, S. (2005). Teaching Practice
A Handbook for Teachers in Training. Oxford, GB: Macmillan.
Jaaniten, R. (2013). Integrating Theory and Practice in FL
Teacher Education. In IATEFL, & T. Pattison (Ed.), IATEFL 2012 Glasgow
Conference Selections (pp. 23-25). Canterbury, GB: IATEFL.
The University of Edinburgh. (2008). What is Portfolio?
[Infographic]. Edinburgh, GB, Scotland. http://www.scieng.ed.ac.uk/LTStrategy/eportfolio.html
Vanderbilt University. (n.d.). Center for Teaching.
Retrieved August 27, 2015, from Vanderbilt University:
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-portfolios/
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