Self-directed Professional Learning

As part of your B.Ed./Dip.Ed. program, you are required to complement your course work and practicum with professional learning of your own design. The possibilities for your professional learning during the program are vast, and reach well beyond what can be addressed in your classes. You are the person who best understands your professional growth needs; that is why this professional learning is self-directed. As a member of the teaching profession in Ontario, as well as in other jurisdictions, you will be expected to engage in professional learning throughout your career. The nature of this will vary according to your teaching situation, but the process and the professional orientation you use here will be appropriate for your future learning.

Here is the information you need:

Timeline and Activities
Plan — Create a self-directed professional learning plan, in which you identify goals for professional growth, and suggest how you might achieve them. You will likely revise this during the year to reflect changing needs and interests.
Portfolio — Create a professional portfolio, in which you keep a record of your learning.
Exit Conference — Conduct an Exit Conference at which you will share your professional learning with a small number of your peers, celebrating your learning and theirs.

1. Timeline and Activities

September

Review guidelines for the professional learning component of your program with your Prof 190/191 instructor.

Fall On-Campus Weeks

Design an initial professional learning plan and share it with your Prof 190/191 instructor.

September to April

Use at least four self-directed strategies to enact your PL Plan. Create a professional portfolio to keep artifacts related to your professional learning goals (for example, teaching materials, student work, articles, pictures, newspaper clippings, music, course work). Integrate learning and materials that arise out of course work and the Practicum as these contribute to your professional development. Reflect on the meaning of your activities and experiences as you go along and document both your progress towards your goals and the learning that you are doing. Revise your learning goals and strategies as necessary. Consult your instructor and peers with questions or concerns. See the sample Professional Learning Plan in your Prof 190 courseware pack.

After Your Winter School and Alternate Practica

Organize your portfolio to show your professional growth. Select artifacts that help you tell the story of your professional growth this year. Summarize your professional learning. Use your summary as an abstract for your peer reviewers and potential employers.

April Exit Conference

Confirm exit conference date, time, location, and procedures. Review guidelines for preparing and managing your exit conference. Present the process and outcomes of your professional development to two peers — celebrate your learning. Participate in the exit conference presentation of two peers, and provide them with written comments.

Grading

To graduate from the Faculty of Education, you must participate fully in all parts of this professional learning activity.

2. Plan

Create Your Plan

review the concerns you identified as you began your B Ed year
connect your concerns with the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession of the Ontario College of Teachers, and with the lists of professional development areas, below
identify a manageable goal that you feel you can address on your own this year
submit your written plan to your course instructor

General areas for professional development:

curriculum planning
instruction
curriculum development models and theories
classroom management
student-centred learning environments
integrating computer and information technology
forms of assessment
assessing for learning
contemporary developments within subject disciplines
active learning
arts-based education
experiential education
unit planning integrated across disciplines
unit planning integrated across grade levels
split-grade classrooms (P/J) or split-level courses (I/S)
teaching and learning for personal growth
team teaching
provincial standardized testing programs
professional learning communities in schools
cooperative small group learning

Addressing individual needs and differences:

establishing inclusive learning environments
diagnosing special needs
individual education plans
school to community programs
school and community support services
programs for at-risk, gifted learners, or other selected populations

Understanding contemporary issues:

antiracist/anti-bias education
gender issues in schooling
parent councils
media and learning
school governance
school/community partnerships
substance abuse
violence in schools
bullying

Carry Out Your Plan

To achieve your goal, you need to select at least 4 activities, with this list as a guide. For example, if your professional development plan is to learn more about cooperative small group learning, you might complete the following activities: consult the professional literature and read several articles; attend a workshop on cooperative small group learning; watch a video; present a workshop yourself. Here are examples of appropriate activities:

attend professional development conferences sponsored by educators
attend community-sponsored conferences and workshops
attend Faculty of Education conferences and workshops
present workshops at the Faculty of Education or elsewhere
complete practical or scholarly extensions of workshop learning
create curriculum, assessment or instructional materials other than assignments
develop new skills: play an instrument, learn to sketch, learn computer software, etc
acquire formal certifications: CPR, First Aid, coaching certificates, etc.
provide service to the community: tutoring, hospital, social service, club, faith community, etc.
provide service to schools: tutoring, fund raising, extra curricular activities. These may be undertaken at your associate school.
conduct Action Research - any systematic inquiry of field-based concerns completed in addition to the Prof 190/191 course work
interest group development (disciplined inquiry around a topic or theme of interest involving at least 3 other people)
professional reading and reflection
participation in student government (ESS, CESA)
work with a "critical friend"
Other possibilities....

3. Portfolio

As part of your B.Ed. program here at Queen's you are required to create a professional portfolio. You will use your portfolio to record your professional learning, to support your exit conference discussion, and to support your job search and job interviews. If you have already begun to develop a portfolio, simply continue to maintain and expand it throughout the year and use it in relation to your self-directed professional development.

What is a professional portfolio, how is it put together, and how will it enhance your professional learning? Answers to these questions and others you may have will come from various sources, including the documents in the Prof 190/191 courseware, various course instructors, workshops at the Faculty of Education, the professional literature, a variety of web sites and your peers. The Ontario College of Teachers requires continuous professional learning as part of its Standards of Practice, and your portfolio will be one of the ways for you to document your ongoing professional growth.

What is a professional portfolio?

It is a collection of your professional beliefs, goals, practices, and achievements. It combines process and product. The process includes selection and evaluation of artifacts. The products are the actual artifacts stemming from the process. Your portfolio will be a vehicle to capture some of the complexities and unique features of your own teaching and learning.

Typically, your portfolio will be housed in a binder, divided according to the headings provided by the Standards of Practice document, or some other organizing scheme that seems appropriate for you. Your portfolio will be a "purposeful collection of work which exhibits efforts, progress and achievement in one or more area over an extended period of time" (Paulsen, Paulsen, and Meyer 1991). Your portfolio will document:

your professional competence
your professional goals and beliefs
your teaching, learning, and professional growth
areas of professional strength and areas for further growth

Your portfolio will be a collection of information about your professional learning and your teaching practice. It will not be a scrapbook or steamer trunk, but rather a set of artifacts collected systematically and arranged thoughtfully to show your understandings, growth, and professional accomplishments.

Purpose of this portfolio?

to make you more aware of how you teach and learn
to improve the quality of your teaching and your students' learning;
to develop your skills of reflective practice
to use as part of your CV for employment
to use as part of your Teacher Performance Appraisal (if employed in Ontario)

Collecting artifacts for your portfolio

Keep a box of artifacts that you might put into your portfolio. Sort and annotate each item as you put it into the box. Make a note of what goal it addresses and how it relates to other artifacts. Connect it specifically to your personal Professional Learning Plan. You may want to use the categories developed by the Ontario College of Teachers in order to help with your sorting:

commitment to student learning
professional knowledge
teaching practice
leadership and community
ongoing professional learning

You may find that another set of categories is also effective. Discuss this with your instructor and peers.

Here are some possible kinds of artifacts for your portfolio.

statement of your beliefs about teaching and learning
statement of your goals and your progress toward them
summary of formal professional activities (workshops, courses, organizations)
samples of your students' exemplary work (names blacked out)
influential professional reading
résumé
reflections from your students about your teaching
samples of curriculum, assessment or lesson materials you have developed or adapted
records of strategies you have used to handle classroom management concerns, exceptionalities, etc.
samples of any research you have undertaken, for example action research
information about co-curricular involvement during your Practicum placement
reflections on your own teaching and learning, which are crucial to your professional growth and ongoing professional learning

As you are assembling your portfolio, sort through the artifacts, select those which represent your most important learning, annotate them, and insert them into your portfolio. Understand that your portfolio will always be a work in progress; your professional growth will be ongoing.

You will typically use your portfolio during job interviews, as well as during your Exit Conference here at Queen's.

PortfolioMaker.ca — This site will help you create a portfolio.
Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario — On this website you will find information to help teachers create portfolios and annual learning plans. There are also many other current documents relating to Ontario elementary school teaching and learning.

4. Exit Conference

Each teacher candidate must participate in a peer-assessed exit conference in order to complete the requirements of the B.Ed. program at Queen's. The exit conference provides you with opportunities to share your learning, celebrate your professional growth and develop experience in self- and peer assessment. This structured experience will also provide you with feedback and further opportunities to consolidate your learning. The following guidelines should help you through the process.

The Exit Conference.

The exit conference will take place on the last day of term in April.
You will lead a 35-45 minute conference with at least two other colleagues. During the conference, you will describe and summarize your professional growth as it occurred, using your PD Summary and your professional portfolio.
You are expected to serve as peer assessor for at least two others.

Preparing your Portfolio.

Review all the artifacts you have collected relating to your professional growth. From these select a sub-set that will be the most useful in helping you to discuss and provide evidence of your learning.

Getting ready for your Exit Conference.

Review your professional learning goals.
Using your professional portfolio, organize the activities and processes you have engaged in during your B.Ed./Dip.Ed. year into a meaningful sequence. Include evidence of the activities that were part of your professional learning plan, but do not feel limited to these.
Prepare a one-page summary of your professional learning. Make copies for your two peer reviewers, your instructor, and yourself. Take these to your exit conference.

Managing your Exit Conference.

First 5 Minutes

Distribute your summary of self-directed learning to two peers so that they may read it while your are preparing to display your portfolio materials.
Designate a colleague to monitor your use of time.

Next 30-35 Minutes.

Discuss your professional learning goals, activities you chose to address these goals, and the growth you feel you have experienced. Support your discussion with reflections and artifacts from your portfolio.
Respond to any questions from your colleagues.

Final 5 Minutes.

Have your peers work independently to provide you with written comments on your presentation. Have them indicate professional strengths that they saw reflected in the portfolio, and ideas that they expect will influence their own teaching.

References

Paulsen, F. Paulsen P, Meyer, C. (1991). What makes a portfolio a portfolio? Educational Leadership 48(5), 60-63.