NARRATIVES OF LEARNING: PORTFOLIO APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNINGPAUL LESLIE
SHARJAH HIGHER COLLEGES, UAE
INTED MAR 2-4, 2015
MADRID, SPAIN
WWW.PAULLESLIE.NET
Abstract
The intentions we have for sharing our knowledge shape and influence the processes and the resulting products of those intentions.
Recognizing these intentions may help to support our teaching and learning efforts.
The ‘time is ripe’ for the portfolio approach to help practitioners make use of 21st century tools.
Portfolio approach to learning To manage ‘21st century learning’, the concept of a ‘portfolio approach to learning’ offers a framework in which to pursue educational activities.
“… holistic approach to teaching and learning that encompasses the varied activities involved in providing an educational experience” (Leslie, 2012, p. 166).
INTRODUCTION
Portfolios and learning Educational (teaching and learning) processes are often…
INTRODUCTION
ill-defined Product
Demonstration of competency
Ill-aligned
Short or occasionalconcurrent
concurrent
Non-linear
consecutive
…and so difficult to capture
Tension between process and product
Portfolio: Spheres of intentionality
INTRODUCTION
• Personal Sphere
capture ideasexternalize ill-structured domainsmake connections between ideas
• Community of Inquiry Sphere
Share ideas with communitybenefit from community
experience and knowledge• Demonstration
of Competency Sphere
A curated portfolio of ideas to fit the needs of individual
stakeholders.
The intentionality of the process for the creation of knowledge informs and shapes the knowledge to be created.
Demonstration of Artful competency
ill-defined
Portfolio approach to learning Clear intentions help students and teachers alike to manage processes and better capture their ideas.
INTRODUCTION
Ill-aligned
Short or occasionalconcurrent
concurrent
Non-linear
consecutive
Potential Learning
Personal sphere: what are the range of skills and processes that will allow practitioners to present their own unique voice to their community of inquiry and their stakeholders?
Community of inquiry sphere: how can a portfolio approach afford opportunities for practitioners to go among each other’s work and find their own knowledge and new learning from that collection?
Demonstration of competency sphere: how can we help practitioners determine their own narrative without abandoning the institutional voice that comes from the demands of the workplace?
INTRODUCTION
Time span of discretion
LITERATURE REVIEW
The greater the time span of discretion, the greater the sense of integrity
Integrity
Higher order work requires a greater “integrative complexity”
(Kolb, 1984, p. 131)
LITERATURE REVIEW
Community of inquiry model“A community of inquiry is shaped by purposeful, open and disciplined critical discourse and reflection” (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008, p. 14).
Teaching presence gives participants and community members permission to question and challenge each other
LITERATURE REVIEW
Research Methodology Personal sphere:
Autoethnographic review of my own work over the past six years.
Community of inquiry sphere:
Numerous groups of students over a five year span.
Professional teachers from several public schools in Sharjah Emirate, UAE, over a one year span.
Demonstration of competency sphere:
Professional teachers from several public schools in Sharjah Emirate, UAE, over a one year span.
Personal Sphere of intentionality Our individuality gains value to others through their interpretations of our ‘being’, not through our own interpretations.
FINDINGS
Ismael (2007) asks, how can we reconcile these interpretations?
Community of inquiry sphere The interactions of teaching presence allows each participant to …
“… introduce [each other] to the methodological exactitude with which they should approach the learning process”
(Freire, 1998, p. 33)
FINDINGS
Demonstrations of competency
The chance to improve curations motivated teachers to increase the chances of getting feedback.
One teacher commented, “I want them to see the process of my work”.
FINDINGS
All teachers were keenly interested in each other’s work, but not in its entirety. Practitioners can curate for individual interests.
Conclusion
Schon (1983) asked how do we provide evidence of the ‘artful competence’ that we display every day in our work.
One way is through a greater array of narrative through examples in our own work.
The portfolio approach will help to ensure that the lifelong growth and development of the practitioner is guided, focused and informed by the …
practical needs of their multiple stakeholders.
common goals of academic inquiry and lifelong learning
References Higher Colleges of Technology. (2013, August 29). EDU 1302. Retrieved from Higher Colleges of Technology - Curricunet:
http://www.curricunet.com/HCT/reports/record_outline.cfm?courses_id=7353
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