A professional teacher’s portfolio can be regarded as a kind of manifestation of the teacher’s knowledge and experiences. The school administrator can evaluate the teacher’s professionalism while reading the teacher’s portfolio. Therefore, the portfolio should contain the most important artifacts.
First, it is important to reveal the teacher’s philosophy in the portfolio (Seldin et al., 2010). This section will include the teacher’s ideas concerning the role of the teacher and students’ expectations. Admittedly, teaching is an art that is not confined to certain materials or teaching techniques. The teacher should formulate his/her own beliefs on the major aims and goals of teaching. The teacher should also point out precise goals to be reached.
Teaching is also a science that requires precision. Therefore, the portfolio should contain a methodology section. This section will contain a list of certain methodologies to be used by the teacher (Seldin et al., 2010). Here the teacher should be quite precise it is important to comment upon all major methods and techniques which he/she will use. The portfolio should contain methods of students’ assessment as the assessment is the main way to check students’ understanding (Kauckak & Eggen, 2011). The teacher should highlight all types of both formal and informal assessments which he/she is going to use. Of course, the teacher should justify the use of this or that method or technique. It is not enough to enumerate some methods, the teacher should prove that the methods used will help him/her to achieve the goals mentioned in the portfolio.
Finally, the teacher should include particular examples of his/her work (Seldin et al., 2010). The teacher should provide some materials used during his/her class (some activities, some innovative approaches, visual aids, etc). The teacher can include a teaching plan for one of his/her classes. It can be also effective to include some students’ works (Seldin et al., 2010). These works prove the effectiveness of the teacher’s methods.
These sections (philosophy, goals, methodology, particular materials used during classes, students’ works) will help the school administrator to evaluate the teacher’s professionalism.
Reference List
Kauchak, D., & Eggen, P. (2011). Introduction to Teaching: Becoming a Professional (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Seldin, P., Miller, J.E., Seldin, C.A., & McKeachie, W. (2010). The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons.