Prof 191 Assignment #2 2008-2009
Self-Directed Professional Development
This is a four part assignment will develop intertwine in stages over the full eight months while you are at the Faculty of education as well as on your various practicums. Each part builds upon the previous one and it will all come together in the form of a culminating activity/event in your Exit conference.
Part 1:
Developing a Personal Philosophy of Teaching
This evolving activity is aimed at helping you begin to develop a personal Philosophy of Teaching. This is something which you will sketch out in September and go back to, hopefully many times during the year before you synthesize it as part of your portfolio/Exit conference.
Getting Started
Record a simple representation (visual and/or written) of your developing teaching philosophy that will help guide you in your year. It will change and evolve. It should focus on what you care about most as a teacher.
In preparing your developing teaching philosophy, consider relevant personal experience and writing, the statement that you wrote when you applied for the B.Ed./Dip.Ed. program, and the summer reading that you were required to do in assignment # 1.
a) To assist you, you might wish to consider the seven categories (Areas of Focus) that follow, construed as areas of focus in your teaching. For each area of focus:
*Find a few keywords (e.g. respect, commitment, understanding, curiosity) and images that hint at the answers to the questions below;
*Display the keywords in a way that suggests the relative importance of each area of focus listed below and the relationships among them;
*Add brief notes that illustrate and explain the keywords;
* You may wish to refer to writing (e.g., the book you reviewed in assignment #1) that supports or informs your view;
b) Second, link everything together in a format that conveys to what extent and in what way each of the areas of focus figures in your view of yourself as a teacher.
Areas of Focus
1. Student. To what extent and in what way do you care about your students - who they are, what they think, how they act, what they know, what they can do, and what they have experienced?
2. Teacher. In what ways do you want to be an example for your students? How do you want to change to be a better example to them? In what ways do you want them to be like you?
3. Subject. What is it about your chosen teaching subjects that you most want your students to learn? Why?
4. Learning. To what extent are you focused on the process of learning, knowledge building, developing good habits of learning, and cultivating a love of learning for its own sake, independent of what is being learned?
5. Community. What emphasis do you place on living and learning in community, collaborative knowledge building, supporting one another, showing respect and interest in one another, cooperating and collaborating, doing things collectively that no individual could do alone?
6. Society. To what extent and in what ways are you concerned with students understanding their place in society and in becoming good members of society?
7. Environment. How connected are you to the earth on which we live? Do you focus on waiting and listening or on knowing and controlling? In your view, how are human and non-human aspects of the world related? In what ways do you want to focus your teaching on having your students think and act in ways that reflect deep understanding and respect for the environmental consequences of what they do?
An Evolving Philosophy of Education
The idea behind this initial activity is to begin to articulate a philosophy of teaching based on an ethic of caring (Noddings, 1992). As the year unfolds, recognize that in any particular teaching situation, the central focus of your care will depend on the situation. As you reflect on your experiences over the year, consider whether this focus is where you want it to be and if not, how it might be refocused.
c) Revisit the initial representation of your philosophy at several key points in your B.Ed./Dip.Ed. program and for a variety of purposes:
• to enhance your curriculum planning and teaching practice;
• to focus your professional dialogue with peers, associate teacher, and faculty liaison/PROF 191 instructor;
• to map the evolution of your focus as your practicum unfolds;
• to guide your action research (PROF 191 Assignment #3) during the practicum;
• to guide the development and execution of an individual professional development plan
• to review incidents in, or aspects of, your teaching experience that best represent who you want to be as a
teacher.
In the end, you may come to see how your philosophy evolves in relation to experience, and how examining that evolution can have a strong positive influence on your professional development.
d) You are encouraged to share what you develop in this activity, including it’s evolution, with your peers, Prof 191 instructor, associate teachers and to include it in your portfolio.
The Big Picture
The intent is that you will complete a first draft of your philosophy of teaching during the month of September prior to the beginning of the first all practicum. You are asked to share this and subsequent drafts with your Prof 191 instructor. Your Prof 191 instructor will ask you to revisit this work in progress during the on-campus weeks in November and January so you can make any modifications you see as appropriate based on your practicum experiences to date. Finally you are encouraged to include your philosophy of teaching , in all of it’s stages of evolution, as part of your portfolio presentation during the exit conference in April.
Part 2:
Self-directed Professional Learning Plan for 2008-2009
As part of your B.Ed./Dip.Ed. program, you are required to complement your course work and practicum with professional development 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 culminating assignment 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 that underlies it is the same as in this culminating assignment.
Here are the steps:
1. Create a self-directed professional learning PLAN, in which you identify goals for professional growth, and suggest how you might achieve them;
2. CARRY OUT YOUR PLAN, through professional activities that address your goals;
Information about each of these components of the program appears here and will be discussed and explained in your Prof 190/191 classes.
1. Creating a Self-directed Professional Learning Plan
To create your plan
a.review the emerging philosophy of teaching you identified in part 1 above
b. 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
c. identify a list of MANAGEABLE GOALS that you feel you can address on your own this year
d. submit your written first draft of this plan to your course instructor by the end of September.
Some General Areas for Personal Professional Development:
• Curriculum Planning, Instruction, Student Assessment
• Classroom management
• Curriculum development models and theories
• Student-centred learning environments
• Integrating computer and information technology
• Media and learning
• Contemporary developments within subject disciplines
• Forms of assessment
• Unit planning integrated across disciplines
• Unit planning integrated across grade levels
• Teaching and learning for personal growth
• split-level courses (I/S)
• Team teaching in traditional or alternative settings
• Provincial standardized testing programs
• Cooperative small group learning
• Active learning, arts-based education, experiential education, and more
Addressing Individual Needs and Differences
• Establishing inclusive learning environments for ethnoculturally diverse learners
• School to community programs, including programs in hospitals
• Programs for at-risk, gifted learners, or other selected populations
• Distance education and special needs or circumstances
• School and community support services
• Individual education plans
• Cooperative education • Diagnosing special needs
Understanding Contemporary Issues
• The global classroom for teachers and students
• "critical friends" in professional development
• parent councils • media and learning
• schools as learning organizations
• school governance
• school/community partnerships
• Antiracist/anti-bias education
• substance abuse • violence in schools
•bullying • cyber-bullying
• gender issues in schooling
2. Carrying Out Your Plan
Self-directed Professional Learning Activities
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;
• watch a video or a series of videos;
• attend a workshop on cooperative small group learning;
• present a workshop yourself.
• attend community-sponsored conferences and workshops
• professional reading and reflection
• attend Faculty of Education conferences and workshops
• work with a "critical friend"
• present workshops at the Faculty of Education or elsewhere • participation in student govt. (ESS, CESA)
• 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 191 course work
• interest group development (disciplined inquiry around a topic or theme of interest involving at least several other people)
• attend professional development conferences sponsored by educators
• other possibilities?????????
Part 3:
Creating Your Professional 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 already have developed a portfolio, simply continue to maintain and develop 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, your course instructor, 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 the 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;
• Areas of professional strength and areas for further growth
• Your professional goals and beliefs;
• Your teaching, learning, and professional 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 annual Teacher Performance Appraisal (if employed in Ontario)
Collecting artifacts for your portfolio
Keep a file 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. You may want to use the categories developed by the Ontario College of Teachers in order to help with your sorting:
1. Commitment to student learning
2. Professional knowledge
3. Teaching practice
4. Leadership and community
5. 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. There are many other possibilities.
• Statement of your educational beliefs, philosophy (include what you did in part 1 above)
• Statement of your goals as an educator 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/feedback 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 behavior problems, 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 items 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.
For further information
[This page gives further details on portfolio development and suggestions for tracking your professional growth: Professional Portfolio Resources.]
This site will help you create a portfolio. www.portfoliomaker.ca
The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario has information to help teachers create portfolios. www.etfo.ca
Part 4:
Preparing for the 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 is designed to provide 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 during the last week of classes 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 some meaningful sequence. Include evidence of the four activities that were part of your plan, but do not feel limited to these four.
• Prepare a one-page summary of your growth, using the form provided. 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 you are preparing to display your portfolio materials.
• Designate a colleague to monitor your use of time.
Next 30-35 Minutes.
• Discuss your professional development 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 both professional strengths that they saw reflected in the portfolio, and also ideas that particularly resonated with them 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