NARRATIVES OF LEARNING: PORTFOLIO APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNINGPAUL LESLIE

PAUL@PAULLESLIE.NET

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

Barrett, H. (2007). Researching electronic portfolios and learner engagement: The REFLECT Initiative. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(6), 436-449. doi:10.1598/JAAL.50.6.2

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. Retrieved September 1, 2012, from http://communitiesofinquiry.com/sites/communityofinquiry.com/files/Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf

Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2008). Blended Learning in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Leslie, P. (2012, September). Portfolio Approach to Learning: Application with Educational Technology Students. In Dowling, S. (ed.), Opening up Learning (Vol. 1, pp. 153-162). Abu Dhabi: HCT Press. Retrieved from http://shct.hct.ac.ae/events/edtechpd2013/articles2012/index.asp

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the Opppresed. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Ash, S., & Clayton, P. (2009). Generating, Deepening, and Documenting Learning: The Power of Critical Reflection in Applied Learning. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 1, 25-48.

Leslie, P. (2013). Communities of Inquiry and Assessment: Graded Discussions. In Dowling, S. (ed), Redefining Learning(Vol. 2, pp. 153-164). Abu Dhabi: HCT Press.

Cleveland-Innes, M. F., & Garrison, D. R. (2010). (eds) An Introduction to Distance Education. New York: Routledge.

Haughey, M. (2010). Teaching and Learning in Distance Education Before the Digital Age. In Cleveland-Innes, M. F., & Garrison, D. R. (2010). (eds) An Introduction to Distance Education. New York: Routledge.

Education is a community affair