RUNNING HEAD: Teaching ePortfolios as Evidence for One’s Practicum 1

Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano

(Infographic by The University of Edinburgh, 2008)

Teaching ePortfolios as Evidence for One’s Practicum How practical and useful are these portfolios?

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña Solano

Thursday, August 26, 2015 Twitter: @jonacuso

Post 189

“Reflective self-assessment is a key competency and the most challenging aspect

of learning to be a teacher” (Jaaniten, 2013). At Universidad Latina, as part of my

Teaching Practicum training for ELT student teachers, reflection is key to have learners

reflect upon their teaching practice and their experiences in a classroom with real

learners. Our student teachers, as well as any graduate instructor elsewhere, “can learn

a lot about teaching by discussing it and talking about materials and techniques but, like

most skills, including using a language effectively, [they] can’t really learn it without doing

it” (Gower, Phillips, & Walters, 2005). However, where should reflections be stored to

attest one’s teaching reflections, materials, or even lesson plans? Is a teaching ePortfolio

the answer to the former question?

As Jaaniten (2013) puts it, “it is a constant challenge in teacher education to

integrate theoretical knowledge with teaching practice.” Student teachers or teachers in

in-service training tend to produce lots of materials and reflect upon their particular

teaching circumstances and challenges derived from their comprehension of theory and

Teaching ePortfolios as Evidence for One’s Practicum 2

Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano

teaching strategies, but where is all that data going? It needs to be placed somewhere

so others can see it. For instance, at Universidad Latina is not mandatory to keep an

ePortfolio to store and organize thoughts and materials, student teachers are encouraged

to keep one that can later on be used as evidence for one’s teaching practicum

experiences, especially when one lacks work experience as a language teacher with a

tenure. By means of teaching ePortfolios that instructors can keep, “the builder constructs

meaning, makes the learning process transparent and learning visible, crystallises

insights, and anticipates future direction” (Jaaniten, 2013) in their current or future

teaching.

If you are still wondering what a teaching portfolio or ePortfolio is, let us point out

some of its most salient characteristics. As it can be viewed at the Center for Teaching of

the Vanderbilt University (n.d.), these are the most relevant characteristics of a portfolio:

Portfolios provide documented evidence of teaching from a variety of

sources—not just student ratings—and provide context for that evidence.

The process of selecting and organizing material for a portfolio can help one

reflect on and improve one’s teaching.

Portfolios are a step toward a more public, professional view of teaching as a

scholarly activity.

Portfolios can offer a look at development over time, helping one see

teaching as on ongoing process of inquiry, experimentation, and reflection.

Teaching portfolios capture evidence of one’s entire teaching career, in

contrast to what are called course portfolios that capture evidence related to

a single course.

(Vanderbilt University, n.d.)

“Student teachers learn to reflect, set personal goals, develop their teacher identity, work

more autonomously and collaborate” (Jaaniten, 2013). And the evidence of all these

cognitive processes can be of great help for a future employer to see the potential new

recruits can have in their school setting.

Teaching ePortfolios as Evidence for One’s Practicum 3

Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano

The benefits for ePortfolios for language professionals or student teachers are

many, and it is a great idea to have one of yours to be used as evidence that can attest

one’s life as a language teacher or any other kind of instructor, because “through

narrative texts, student teachers are able to express their personal voices and be heard

by others” (Jaaniten, 2013) such as their college professors, their mentors in school, their

supervisors or coaches, and their peers. If all language teachers were into having an

ePortfolio to validate their teaching experiences, it will be simply awesome to count with

all this reflective journaling that can help readers understand who these teachers are,

what these individuals aspire in their professional life, and the level of mindfulness that

can be actually seen in their writings, planning, and so on.

References

Gower, R., Phillips, D., & Walters, S. (2005). Teaching Practice A Handbook for

Teachers in Training. Oxford, GB: Macmillan.

Jaaniten, R. (2013). Integrating Theory and Practice in FL Teacher Education. In

IATEFL, & T. Pattison (Ed.), IATEFL 2012 Glasgow Conference Selections (pp.

23-25). Canterbury, GB: IATEFL.

The University of Edinburgh. (2008). What is Portfolio? [Infographic]. Edinburgh, GB,

Scotland. http://www.scieng.ed.ac.uk/LTStrategy/eportfolio.html

Vanderbilt University. (n.d.). Center for Teaching. Retrieved August 27, 2015, from

Vanderbilt University: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-

portfolios/