Purdue University > College of Education > Curriculum & Instruction >  JoAnn Phillion  > EDCI 205 > Professional Portfolio

Project 4 | Guiding Principles in Practice

A professional portfolio is a collection of documents that represents one's understanding of teaching and learning as it unfolds over a period of time, from entrance to teacher education through the development of a teacher’s career. A portfolio is a way to document not only what a preservice teacher and her students do but also how she thinks and makes decisions as a teacher. Like an art exhibit, a professional portfolio will contain several entries, each entry contributing to a vision of teaching as a whole. The table illustrates what might be included in a professional portfolio.

In Block One, preservice teachers will learn to create an electronic, or e portfolio.  Each semester, preservice teachers will add additional artifacts and  links that relate to new electronic documents (digital photographs, word documents, audio and videotapes, clips, etc.) If a preservice teacher leaves the university for a period of time, she will be expected to download her e portfolio onto a disk in order to save the document. Each semester preservice teachers will review and update their portfolios.  

The three Guiding Principles in Practice link:

• the College of Education (COE) Model for Professional Preparation,  and
• the Indiana Professional Standards Board (IPSB) Guidelines for a beginning teacher portfolio

They are designed to integrate instruction, learning, and assessment. The guiding principles will assist preservice teachers in providing evidence of their abilities to make applications, analyses, and judgments.

THEME 1: Attention to Learners
How does the teacher create and critique learning experiences in order to address diverse student development and interests?

This Guiding Principle in Practice addresses the following components of the SOE Model for Professional Preparation:

• Focus on learners and assess growth and outcomes
• Practice inclusive education
• Understand individual development
• Think critically and reflectively about learners

THEME 2: Understanding Curriculum in Context
In what ways does the teacher make connections across/among the learning experiences?

This Guiding Principle in Practice addresses the following components of the SOE Model for Professional Preparation:

• Adapt curriculum and instruction to diverse learners
• Teach effectively by integrating content and pedagogy
• Use current and emerging technology
• Think critically and reflectively about contexts of curriculum

THEME 3: Commitment to Professional Growth
How does the teacher enact the role of a professional?

This Guiding Principle in Practice addresses the following components of the SOE Model for Professional Preparation:

• Participate actively in the profession
• Engage in professional development
• Collaborate with teachers, parents and the community
• Think critically and reflectively about professional growth

The assessment instruments designed for INTASC and IPSB portfolios provided the guiding questions used in this document. These guiding principles are a synthesis of the INTASC knowledge, dispositions and performances and are aligned with those used in the IPSB Beginning Teacher Portfolios. The Principles in Practice ask preservice teachers to make applications, analyses and judgments of the INTASC principles. Our intention in using these three guiding principles is to provide support to preservice teachers in learning to use of the INTASC principles rather than simply to know how to name them in isolation.

These guiding Principles in Practice serve as the organization for the professional portfolio. Preservice teachers will select artifacts to showcase their understanding of each of the three principles. While there may be times when a preservice teacher or instructor may find difficulty in deciding which guiding principle is illustrated by a particular artifact, the thinking behind that decision should make visible how the preservice teacher is thinking about teaching and learning. The narratives that accompany the artifacts are opportunities for preservice teachers to make their thinking visible to portfolio reviewers. It is important to note that while the INTASC principles guide the construction of the portfolios for both the SOE and the IPSB, neither asks preservice teachers to identify or use them in isolation. Rather the emphasis is placed on assessing Principles in Practice.

Each semester, preservice teachers will identify and add new artifacts to their portfolio as one means to document progress. Artifacts will come from two sources -- those determined by course instructors as required portfolio content and those selected by students from experiences/assignments within and outside (e.g. tutoring, volunteer work, student organizations, camp experiences with children, etc.) of courses. Preservice teachers will establish the overall organization of their working portfolios during Block One by creating a separate labeled section for each of the Guiding Principles in Practice. The Guiding Principles in Practice will serve to organize the portfolio artifacts.

1. Collection of Artifacts:  Preservice teachers will collect evidence of their growing understanding of the Principles in Practice. This will be in the form of artifacts linked to files that explain the artifact.

2. Artifact Narrative Preservice teachers will write a narrative to accompany each artifact included in the portfolio (whether selected by the student or the instructor) in which they explain what the item is, why the item was selected, and how it meets the guiding principle.

3. Integration Narrative Preservice teachers will write an integration narrative that shows the interrelationships and integration of artifacts associated with all of the principles. A significant portion of this narrative should be developed to explain the growth demonstrated across experiences (not a requirement of Block One).

Syllabus | Instructors | Course Policies | Readings | Schedule
Writing | Projects 1 2 3 4 | Web Assignment 1 2 3 | Field Experience

Comments to phillion@purdue.edu | Last updated January 2010