THE ENGLISH AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES UNIVERSITY

HYDERABAD-500007

2-Year B.Ed. (English)

Fourth Semester Syllabus

My Portfolio and Reflective Journal

No. of Credits: 4
(Theory: 3 credits; Practicum: 1credit)
Maximum Marks: 100
(External: 60 marks Internal: 40 marks)

A portfolio is a collection of a person's best work over a period of time. Portfolios can
be a collection of information that provides evidence about a teacher's effectiveness.
Portfolio’s are generally construed in terms of process and product. The process of
portfolio development encourages reflection among new and prospective teachers. As
they begin to organize a professional portfolio they begin to reflect about their
understanding of professional roles and responsibilities. As products, they
demonstrate evidence of a teacher's effectiveness and growth( Uphof,James,1989).

A portfolio or dossier is a collection of material that depicts the nature and quality of
an individual’s teaching and students’ learning. Portfolios are structured deliberately
to reflect particular aspects of teaching and learning – they are not trunks full of
teaching artifacts and memorabilia. At its best a portfolio documents an instructor’s
approach to teaching, combining specific evidence of instructional strategies and
effectiveness in a way that captures teaching’s intellectual substance and complexity.
(William Cerbin, 1993)

What Is a Teaching Portfolio?

1. Portfolios provide documented evidence of teaching from a variety of sources

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

2. The process of selecting and organizing material for a portfolio can help one
reflect on and improve one’s teaching.

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

scholarly activity.
 4. Portfolios can offer a look at development over time, helping one see teaching
as on ongoing process of inquiry, experimentation, and reflection.

5. 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.

"The portfolio is not an exhaustive compilation of all the documents and materials
that bear on teaching performance. Instead, it presents selected information on
teaching activities and solid evidence of their effectiveness. Just as statements in a
curriculum vitae should be supported by convincing evidence (such as published
articles or invitations to present a paper at an academic conference), so claims in the
teaching portfolio should be supported by firm empirical evidence."

HOW ARE TEACHING PORTFOLIOS USED?

As a “product” (for decisions – evaluative, summative)

• to communicate your teaching to your university
• to communicate your teaching to students, colleagues, community

As a “process” (for development – formative, reflective)

• to record your teaching experiences over time
• to provide themes and evidence for your evaluative portfolio

WHAT GOES INTO A TEACHING PORTFOLIO?

•  Teaching Experience and Responsibilities

•  Teaching Philosophy
•  Teaching Methods and Strategies
•  Examples of efforts to Improve Teaching
# observations, critiques, workshops

# experiments in pedagogy and methodology

•  Teaching Goals: short‐ and long‐term
•  Appendices
‐ Annotated course materials ‐‐ for example, syllabi,
 assignments, activities, handouts ‐ Examples of student work

‐ Student ratings and other student feedback

‐ Peer and supervisor reviews

______________________________________________________________

What is a Philosophy of Teaching Statement?

A philosophy of teaching statement is a narrative that includes:

1. your conception of teaching and learning

2. a description of how you teach
3. justification for why you teach that way

The statement can:

i. demonstrate that you have been reflective and purposeful about your teaching
ii. communicate your goals as an instructor and your corresponding actions in the
classroom
iii. provide an opportunity to point to and tie together the other sections of your
portfolio

Components of a Teaching Portfolio

1. Your Thoughts About Teaching

o A reflective “teaching statement” describing your personal teaching
philosophy, strategies, and objectives.
o A personal statement describing your teaching goals for the next few
years
2. Documentation of Your Teaching
o A list of lessons taught and a description of your responsibilities
o Syllabi
o Lesson descriptions with details of content, objectives, methods, and
procedures for evaluating student learning
o Reading lists
o Assignments
o Exams and quizzes, graded and ungraded
o Handouts, problem sets, lecture outlines
o Descriptions and examples of visual materials used
o Descriptions of uses of computers and other technology in teaching
o Videotapes of your teaching
 3. Teaching Effectiveness
o Summarized student evaluations of teaching,
o Written comments from students on class evaluations
o Comments from a peer observer or a colleague teaching the same
course
o Statements from colleagues in the department or elsewhere, regarding
the preparation of students for advanced work
o Letters from students, preferably unsolicited
o Letters from course head, division head or chairperson
o Statements from alumni
4. Materials Demonstrating Student Learning
o Scores on standardized or other tests, before and after instruction
o Students’ lab books or other workbooks
o Students’ papers, essays, or creative works
o Graded work from the best and poorest students, with teacher’s
feedback to students
o Instructor’s written feedback on student work
5. Activities to Improve Instruction
o Participation in school activities or professional meetings in school
o Design of new lessons
o Design of interdisciplinary or collaborative lessons or teaching
projects
o Use of new methods of teaching, assessing learning, grading
o Preparation of a textbook, lab manual, courseware, etc.
o Description of instructional improvement projects developed or carried
out
6. Contributions to the Teaching Profession
o Publications in teaching journals
o Papers delivered on teaching
o Reviews of textbooks
o Service on teaching committees
o Assistance to colleagues on teaching matters
o Work on curriculum revision or development
7. Honors, Awards, or Recognitions
o Teaching awards from School
o Appreciation letters from Teachers/Supervisors

HOW CAN YOU BEGIN TO WORK ON A TEACHING PORTFOLIO?

•  Reflect on your teaching individually; talk about your teaching with others

•  Get feedback on your teaching from several sources – students, peers,

supervisors, video

•  Reflect on student learning in your field: How do students learn? What

challenges do they face?
 •  Keep records of your teaching, feedback you receive, and plans to develop
your teaching

•  Seek out teaching opportunities

Portfolios have two main uses, both of which involve evaluation.

1. Summative Evaluation: Portfolios can be used to demonstrate the quality of

a person's work in teaching or for purposes of passing a course of study.

2. Formative Evaluation: Portfolios can be used as a means of assembling and

examining one's work for the purposes of professional improvement.

Reflective Journal:

Engagement with the Field – the Self, the Child, Community and
School
The B.Ed. curriculum shall provide for sustained engagement with the Self, the Child,
Community and School, at different levels, and through establishing close
connections between different curricular areas. In the first year, there shall be work on
the field amounting to a minimum of 4 weeks, spread over several days throughout
the year. This will include one week of school engagement and three weeks of other
engagements as explained ahead. In the second year, there shall be a minimum of 16
weeks of engagement with the field of which 15 weeks are for school internship and
one week is for other field engagements. Thus a minimum of 20 weeks (4+16) shall
be allocated over the two years for tasks, assignments and school internship in the
field, under the broad curricular area Engagement with the Field. The weightage of
internal assessment for Engagement with the Field shall be 100 %.

This curricular area of Engagement with the Field would serve as an important link
between the other two broad areas and the field, through its three components:

a) Tasks and Assignments that run through all the courses as indicated in the
structure and its year wise distribution

The two curricular areas of ‘Perspectives in Education’ and ‘Curriculum and

Pedagogic Studies’ shall offer field engagement through different tasks and projects
with the community, the school, and the child in school and out-of-school. These
tasks and projects would help in substantiating perspectives and theoretical
frameworks studied in a teacher education classroom with field based experiences.
The tasks and projects may include collaborative partnership with the schools for
developing CCE practices, creative ways of tracking learners’ progress, establishing
study circles/science clubs/forums for professional development of in-service school
teachers, or forums for supporting and dialoguing with the School Management
Committee, parents and the community. The community based engagement may also
include oral history projects with a particular community of artisans as part of the
course on ‘Contemporary India and Education’ or ‘Pedagogy of Social
Science/History’. Likewise, the pedagogy course on science may include environment
based projects to address concerns of a particular village/city or a community.

b) School Internship

Having gained some experience with the child, the community and schools in Year 1,
the second year would offer intensive engagement with the school in the form of
School Internship. During the first year, to support better understanding of schools
and in preparation of Internship, teacher education institutes shall make provisions for
visits to innovative centres of pedagogy and learning - innovative schools, educational
resource centres, etc.

During the Internship, a student-teacher shall work as a regular teacher and participate
in all the school activities, including planning, teaching and assessment, interacting
with school teachers, community members and children. Before teaching in a
classroom, the student-teachers will observe the school and its classrooms for a week,
to understand the school in totality, its philosophy and aims, organisation and
management; the life of a teacher; needs of the physical, mental, emotional
development of children; aspects of curriculum and its transaction; quality,
transaction, and assessment of teaching–learning.

School Internship shall be designed to lead to the development of a broad repertoire of

perspectives, professional capacities, teacher dispositions, sensibilities and skills.
Student teachers shall be equipped to cater to diverse needs of learners in schools.
Student-teachers are to be actively engaged in teaching at two levels, namely, upper
primary and secondary. They should be provided opportunities to teach in government
and private schools with systematic supervisory support and feedback from faculty.
Internship in schools is to be done for a minimum duration of 15 weeks. This should
include an initial phase of one week for observing a regular classroom with a regular
teacher and would also include peer observations, teacher observations and
observations of interns’ lessons by faculty. It is important that the student-teachers
consolidate and reflect on their teaching experience during and after the school
internship.

Therefore, along with writing reflective journals during the internship programme,
there shall be space for extended discussions and presentations on different aspects
of the teaching experience after the internship.

For each student-teacher, internship should be conducted preferably in one school for
the entire 15 weeks. However, if the institute wants to provide an opportunity to
understand the context of teaching in a government and private school or the
dynamics of teaching at elementary and senior secondary levels, this period can be
divided into two blocks. Internship may be arranged in two blocks in such a way that
teaching in one school at a particular level (for example elementary or senior
secondary) during one block, is followed by the teaching in another school or the
same school at another level during the second block. Under any circumstances, the
student-teacher should not be sent to more than two schools during her/his internship
period. Internship should not be reduced to the ‘delivery’ of a certain number of
lesson plans, but should aim for meaningful and holistic engagement with learners and
the school. Moreover, teaching should not be practiced through the reductionist
approach of ‘microteaching’ of isolated ‘skills’ and simulated lessons.
c) Courses on Enhancing Professional Capacities (EPC)

Throughout the programme several other specialised courses shall be offered to

enhance the professional capacities of a student-teacher. The EPC courses shall be
internally assessed and are as follows:

Course EPC 1: Reading and Reflecting on Texts (1/2) Course EPC 2: Drama and Art
in Education (1/2) Course EPC 3: Critical Understanding of ICT (1/2) Course EPC 4:
Understanding the Self (1/2)

A course on critical understanding of ICTs shall be offered as an important curricular

resource, according primacy to the role of the teacher, ensuring public ownership of
digital resources, and promoting constructivist approaches that privilege participation
and co-creation over mere access to ICTs. Courses that would focus on developing the
professional and personal self of a teacher will be designed to integrate theoretical and
practical components, transacted through focused workshops with specific inputs on
art, music, drama and yoga. These courses shall offer opportunities to self-reflect,
study issues of identity, interpersonal relations, while viewing schools as sites for
social change; developing social sensitivity and the capacity to listen and empathize.

Content of the Assignment:

1. What were you before you entered the  B.Ed. programme?

2. What did you learn during the B.Ed. programme?
3. Describe your work/material developed/activities during the B.Ed.
programme.
4. What transformation you (yourself) have undergone during the practice
teaching/engaging with children and teachers?
5. What are you now? What is your future vision?