let's reflect: the professional portfolio as a prerequisite for internship

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This article was downloaded by: [Florida State University] On: 17 October 2014, At: 10:39 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Action in Teacher Education Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uate20 Let's Reflect: The Professional Portfolio as a Prerequisite for Internship Karen Wolz Verkler a a University of Central Florida , USA Published online: 06 Jan 2012. To cite this article: Karen Wolz Verkler (2000) Let's Reflect: The Professional Portfolio as a Prerequisite for Internship, Action in Teacher Education, 22:2, 116-121, DOI: 10.1080/01626620.2000.10463010 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2000.10463010 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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This article was downloaded by: [Florida State University]On: 17 October 2014, At: 10:39Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Action in Teacher EducationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uate20

Let's Reflect: The Professional Portfolioas a Prerequisite for InternshipKaren Wolz Verkler aa University of Central Florida , USAPublished online: 06 Jan 2012.

To cite this article: Karen Wolz Verkler (2000) Let's Reflect: The Professional Portfolioas a Prerequisite for Internship, Action in Teacher Education, 22:2, 116-121, DOI:10.1080/01626620.2000.10463010

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2000.10463010

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Let’s Reflect: The Professional Portfolio as a Prerequisite for Internship

Karen Wolz Verkler University of Central Florida

Abstract

The increased use of professional portfolios as a prerequisite for student teaching is in evidence. The College of Education of a large, metropolitan Central Florida university, adopted the teacher education Facilitating Reflective Educator” to encourage the development of its students as reflective practitioners. A platform for reflective writing, the professional portfolio was incorporated into the teacher education program, as an admission requirement for student internship. Students are required to submit artifacts termed “evidence ” into portfolio sections representing areas deemed essential to efSective teaching and to reflect upon these pieces of evidence. The rationale behind portfolio usage, the implementation and continuance of the portfolio requirement, portfolio guidelines, student portfolio development workshops, portfolio reviewer training sessions, and the evaluation process are discussed.

paradigm of “The

Introduction

“The Facilitating Reflective Educator” is the teacher education paradigm that was adopted by the College of Education at a large, metropolitan university in Orlando, Florida to encourage the development of its students as reflective practitioners. Reflective thinking is the “active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (Dewey, 1933, p. 9). In order to encourage this process of reflection throughout the entire College of Education, portfolio submission as an admission requirement into student teaching was instituted.

Currently in its sixth year of implementation, the professional portfolio has become an integral component of the teacher education program at this university. Given the large student population, this integration has been a great task. The university consists of three campuses with an enrollment exceeding 28,000 students. The College of Education has approximately 4,000 students in 11 majors: Art Education, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, English Language Arts Education, Exceptional Student Education, Foreign Language Education, Mathematics Education, Physical Education, Science Education, Social Science Education, and Vocational Education and Industry Training. Each semester, the portfolio process consists of the submission of approximately 600 portfolios, numerous portfolio workshops for students, and several reviewer training sessions for faculty and educational leadership graduate students evaluating portfolios.

The Rationale Behind Portfolios

Although adopted initially to serve as a platform for student reflection, the portfolio requirement addresses several other areas of concern. The State of Florida Sunshine Act calls for alternative modes of student assessment because of inadequacies in traditional assessment instruments. The portfolio, a compilation of student products over the course of time, is espoused by numerous educators (Christie, Enz, & Vukelich, 1997; Graves & Sunstein, 1992; Valencia, 1990; Vavrus, 1990) as a more accurate indicator of student progress. As this mode of assessment is becoming increasingly prevalent throughout all levels of education, it behooves us to require

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portfolios of our students. By constructing them, our education majors receive invaluable experience in the portfolio process, experience they can eventually utilize as they incorporate this means of assessment within their own classrooms. Because portfolio assessment is becoming infused throughout public school curricula, the portfolio process provides preservice teachers with opportunities to view the process from their prospective students’ perspective (Stroble, 1992). Creation of a portfolio also serves to enhance the marketability of our students, giving them “an edge” over other teaching candidates possessing equivalent qualifications. Some Central Florida school districts require that job applicants demonstrate evidence of competence in the portfolio process, prior to being granted an interview. Portfolios, in which a student indicates how he/she has gleaned meaning from a particular experience, also provide a measure by which education faculty can gauge a student’s readiness for teaching (Barton & Colins, 1993; Stowell, Rois, McDaniel, & Kelly, 1993). “Assembling a portfolio helps teacher education students wed theory and practice as they apply what they have learned about teaching to school-specific areas” (Copenhaver, Waggoner, Young, & James, 1997, p. 103).

Implementation of the Portfolio: The Early Stages

As the initial purpose of the professional portfolio was to be congruent with the educational framework of the reflective educator, College of Education faculty were in agreement that the crux of the portfolio be reflective writings. Students would be expected to submit artifacts termed “evidence” in each portfolio section, sections representative of competencies deemed essential for effective teaching, and then to reflect upon each piece of evidence. It was believed that reflective writing would assist them in their recognition of past and present experiences and their interpretation of their significance and application within the realm of education (Ford & Ohlhauser, 1991; Nettles & Petrick, 1995; Wolf, 1991).

As reflections afford education faculty insight into students’ understanding of their professional roles and responsibilities as educators (Cole, Messner, Swonigan, & Tillman, 1991), portfolios were instituted as a requirement for admission into student teaching. Primarily due to the large student enrollment, the incorporation of this requirement into the teacher education program has been nothing less than monumental.

In the first two years of implementation, portfolio review was required of the entire College of Education faculty. In an effort to enhance consistency of evaluation, an assessment rubric was designed and portfolio reviewer training sessions were made available. However, because of diverse interpretations of reflective writing and the faculty’s own expectations of the students, as well as the lack of participation in the reviewer training sessions, consistency in evaluation was problematic. Within the last two years, the review process has been streamlined and sufficiently honed to address this problem. There is currently a review committee consisting of faculty and educational leadership graduate students who must attend a reviewer training session to receive a stipend for travel or materials as compensation for portfolio review.

Portfolio Components

Concurrent with the implementation of the portfolio requirement, portfolio guidelines were developed for inclusion within the university’s College of Education Guide to Teaching Manual. Contained within these guidelines are “The Facilitating Reflective Educator” paradigms, descriptions of the portfolio sections and suggested artifacts representative of appropriate evidence, and guidelines for reflective writing. The fifteen sections of the portfolio, which are based on “The Educator Accomplished Practices” adopted by the Florida Education Standards Commission, are as follows: Autobiography, Resume, Assessment, Communication, Continuous Improvement, Critical Thinking, Diversity, Ethics, Human Development and Learning, Knowledge of Subject Matter,

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Learning Environments, Planning, Role of the Teacher, Technology, and Reflections on Internship JJ. With the exception of the autobiography and resume, all subsequent sections consist of evidence (e.g., lesson plan, microteach self-evaluation, workshop agenda, and newspaper article) representative of a particular experience and a reflection addressing that piece of evidence. When composing their reflections, students are encouraged to refer to the “Three R’s of Reflective Writing,” as delineated within the portfolio guidelines (University of Central Florida College of Education Guide to Student Teaching, 1997, p. 31):

1. Reaction. (Affective Domain, To Feel). As you reexamine this evidence, how do you feel

2. Relevance. (Cognitive Domain, To Think). How is the evidence related to teaching and about it now? Cite at least one example that illustrates your response.

learning? How is the evidence meaningful or how does it contribute to your understanding of teaching and learning? What are some alternative viewpoints or perspectives that you now have andor what are some changeshmprovements you might make based on the experiences you’ve had? Cite examples to support your ideas.

3. Responsibility. (Psychomotor Domain, To Do). How will the knowledge gained from the event or experience be used in your profession? Give examples of possible applications in your professional life, as well as an analysis of possible alternatives, other perspectives, or other meanings that might be related to the evidence. What are some questions you still have regarding this topic?

Introduction of the Portfolio

Professional Teaching Practices, the initial education course, is the forum within which students are introduced to the professional portfolio. Portfolios are used as “a tool for assimilating the interrelationship of teacher education concepts and applying these concepts within the context of the school” (Copenhaver, et al., 1997, p. 105). Significant class time is dedicated to class discussion concerning student interpretation of experiences and the dynamic nature of students’ developing philosophies of education as they are shaped by these experiences. Students become cognizant of the nature of evidence, means by which to collect appropriate artifacts, and reflective thought and composition. The culmination of the course is the presentation for review by their Professional Teaching Practices instructor.

Professional portfolio workshops are also conducted each semester for the general population of education majors. Within the Professional Teaching Practices course as well as within the workshops, students sharpen their skills in portfolio construction and reflective writing. The portfolio as an ever-changing reflection of their growth is emphasized rather than a mere collection of artifacts representative of their experiences. Students are instructed to identify their own significant learning experiences and consider the impact on their attitudes toward teaching. The students’ philosophies of education and autobiographies are interwoven throughout, therefore students’ bottom-line values emerge and generate self-examination in a new light (Copenhaver, Waggoner, Young, & James, 1977).

The Evaluation Process

Each semester, portfolios are submitted on a pre-designated day to be evaluated by the Portfolio Review Committee. This committee consists of 15-20 faculty members and a class of educational leadership graduate students who have been extensively trained in portfolio review. The portfolio reviewer training sessions, which include, but are not restricted to, instruction in the proper usage of an evaluation rubric, constitute an effort for enhanced consistency in evaluation. They also serve as a forum within which concerns of faculty can be addressed prior to portfolio submission. Each committee member evaluates approximately 20-25 portfolios over the course of two weeks and

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receives a stipend for traveVmaterials for their participation. Inclusion of the portfolio review as a course requirement for educational leadership graduate

students in Educational Supervisory Practices (EDS 6130) was initiated into the university calendar year. As these students aspire to secure administrative positions within the field of education, the professor of this course sought to expose them to a mode of assessment being used increasingly in screening job applicants. The students are familiarized with the content disseminated to students submitting portfolios and receive extensive training in evaluation, in an effort to increase consistency in evaluation. In addition, when these students meet during a regular class session to evaluate portfolios, a representative from the College of Education Portfolio Committee is in attendance to field questions. Feedback from these students has been very positive:

Thank you very much for providing us with the opportunity to review portfolios. I feel as though I have a better understanding of the perspectives of our future teachers. I also have a better feel for the quality and comprehensiveness of training provided within your teacher education program. (F‘. Elia, personal communication.)

Portfolios receive overall evaluations of satisfactory, unsatisfactory, or incomplete. Students whose portfolios receive a rating of unsatisfactory or incomplete are given two weeks to make the required revisions. The portfolio is then perused by the student’s advisor, who signs off on the evaluation form, if the revisions are deemed acceptable.

Final Reflections

Since its inception, the portfolio process has been in a state of development, undergoing modifications as College of Education faculty seek to facilitate dissemination of portfolio information to students and faculty. The goal was to clarify, both to students as well as colleagues, the reflective process and its role within the professional portfolio, to reduce the cumbersome nature of the evaluation process, and to enhance consistency of evaluation. The acceptance of the portfolio as being created by the student instead of being done to the student (Paulson, Paulson, & Meyer, 1991) has slowly become more widespread among the student population.

Initially, the professional portfolio requirement tended not to be viewed favorably by students who regarded it with resentment and frustration. Student confusion concerning reflective writing yielded numerous unsatisfactory ratings. Student compositions tended to be simple narratives of their experiences, and did not display meaning or thought for future application. As reflective writing has become increasingly infused within the entire College of Education curriculum, students’ portfolios have demonstrated increased proficiency in this manner of writing. Unsatisfactory ratings now tend to be attributable to typographical and spelling errors rather than to lack of reflection.

Inconsistency in portfolio evaluation was also problematic. However, as the review process became standardized the portfolio process has become a more laudable component of the teacher education program. Success has been a result of expectations made more explicit by means of methods instructors, portfolio review workshops, and other College of Education faculty who have arrived at a deeper understanding of reflective thinking themselves.

As the professional portfolio celebrates its sixth year of implementation, the benefits reaped from its integration have justified earlier frustrations. Curricular awareness among College of Education faculty has been enhanced. Portfolio review affords faculty the opportunity to peruse assignments completed in other courses, resulting in a more comprehensive understanding of the entire college curriculum. Via this process and subsequent meetings with colleagues to augment course articulation, cumcular modifications have been effected to maximize the richness and variety of experiences to which our students are exposed. In addition, students are actively seeking counsel from professors concerning the construction of a quality product reflective of their ever-evolving

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understanding of their professional role as an educator. They are claiming ownership of the portfolio, displaying increased initiative and creativity regarding the selection and placement of their evidence within the portfolio sections. Contrary to the initial years of portfolio implementation, student reflections are beginning to demonstrate greater depth as the students seek to glean meaning from their diverse pieces of evidence, and analyze their relatedness to the general scheme of the educational experience. Increased dialogue has been evidenced between student and professor as they work together in a collaborative effort to enhance the student’s development as a reflective educator. Such collaboration can only help to augment a sense of collegial sharing, an attribute congruent with the personalized nature of instruction on which this College of Education prides itself.

Karen Verkler teaches methods courses in general education and foreign language education. Professional Portfolio Subcommittee of the College of Education at the University of Central Florida.

She chairs the

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References

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Christie, J., Enz, B., & Vukelich, C. (1997). Teaching language and literacy: Preschool through

Copenhaver, R., Waggoner, J., Young, A., & James, T. (1997). Promoting preservice teachers’

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath. Ford, M. P., & Ohlhausen, M. M. (1991). Portfolio assessment in teacher education courses:

Journal of Teacher Education, 44(3), 200-210.

the elementary grades. New York Longman.

professional growth through developmental portfolios. The Teacher Educator; 33(2), 103-1 11.

Impact on students’ beliefs, attitudes, and habits. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 343 088)

Graves, D. H., & Sunstein, B. (1992). Portfolio portraits. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Nettles, D. H., & Petrick, P. B. (1995). Portfolio developmentfor preservice teachers.

Paulson, F. L., Paulson, P. R., & Meyer, C. A. (1991). What makes a portfolio a portfolio?

Stowell, L. P., Rios, F. A., McDaniel, J. E., & Kelly, M. G. (1993). Casting wide the net:

Stroble, E. J. (1992, October). Now you know what your students will be feeling: Reflections

Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa.

Educational Leadership, 48(5), 60-63.

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from teacher education students’ portfolios. A presentation at the Miami University New Directions in Portfolio Assessment Conference. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 354 525)

Orlando, Florida: University of Central Florida.

and hows. The Reading Teacher; 43,338-340.

University of Central Florida College of Education Guide to Student Teaching. (1997).

Valencia, S. (1990). A portfolio approach to classroom reading assessment: The whys, whats,

Vavrus, L. (1990). Put portfolios to the test. Instructor; ZOO, 48-53. Wolf, K. (1991). The schoolteacher’s portfolio: Issues in design, implementation, and evaluation.

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