ADVANCEMENT
TO CANDIDACY
PORTFOLIO
Portfolios
will be reviewed by your faculty members
as
one step toward Candidacy.
DUE:
December 5, 2003.
PURPOSES:
To reflect about, and document:
1)
your prior learning in your endorsement areas (undergraduate work, community
work, and life experiences) as this knowledge relates to the State of Washington
Essential Learning Requirements’ benchmarks for which you will be responsible;
2)
the development of your knowledge and understanding of theories of learning,
the learning process, and the relationship of learning and teaching;
3)
your understanding of the relationship of social/personal filters and collaboration,
group process, group development, and interpersonal relationships;
4)
your ability to do graduate level work.
Each
of the areas outlined on the next pages must be addressed in your portfolio.
The portfolio must be:
clearly
organized,
contain
a table of contents, and,
-
along with
the appropriate documentation, contain Reflective Essays about each area
of documentation.
What
does it mean to include a Reflective Essay for an area of documentation?
Example:
If you include a note from a colleague, written feedback from your seminar
facilitator, and a poem you wrote as documentation of your ability to work
across differences, you would accompany these pieces with a reflective
essay that indicates why you chose them as evidence, why they are good
pieces of evidence, what you learned from them, and how they might affect
your future decisions.
ADVANCEMENT
TO CANDIDACY PORTFOLIO
Below
you will find both requirements and suggestions about types of documentation.?
We invite you to bring individuality and life to your portfolios through
the inclusion of art, poetry,
song, drawings, photographs, etc.
I.
WHO AM I AS A COLLEAGUE AND ACADEMIC LEARNING COMMUNITY MEMBER?
Purpose:?
To demonstrate your engagement in, and contributions to, our learning community,
as well as your understanding of group development, collaboration, and
group process.
Using
five to seven pieces of evidence,
this section should showcase your:
awareness
of your strengths and weaknesses as a community member (knowledge of your
personal biases; your ability to self-reflect and learn from experience;
ability to collaborate)
knowledge
of the process of community building, group formation and group process
interactions
with your colleagues that supported, or contributed to, successful learning
for the community.
Sample
portfolio evidence:
written
notes and reflections from program workshops, assignments, learning log
entries
analysis
of stages of group development in a group that you participated in (within
the MIT program)
Your
documentation must be accompanied by the Reflective Essay described on
the previous page.
II.
WHO AM I AS A LEARNER IN THIS GRADUATE PROGRAM?
Purpose:
To demonstrate graduate level academic skills and knowledge.
Required
Elements: An
evaluation of your ability to help children and adolescents achieve the
appropriate EALR Benchmarks and your final seminar paper (your emerging
TLS paper) are required in this section.
Using
three to five pieces of evidence in addition to the required elements,
this section should showcase your ability to:
evaluate
your academic strengths and areas of need (i.e., engage in useful reflection
about your academic work and plan for and implement strategies for improvement)
identify
areas of endorsement strength in relation to the EALRís and plan
for improving areas of weakness
write
clearly and employ standard conventions, including APA conventions
reason
and engage in professional discussions (identify, discuss, compare/contrast,
and critique major themes and theses in professional books and journal
articles)
demonstrate
a graduate-level understanding of the theories of learning explored through
the Master in Teaching Program and an understanding of the social construction
of knowledge
Sample
portfolio evidence:
successful
completion of Fall Quarter work as demonstrated by faculty evaluations,
written work, exams, or projects
excerpts
from weekly MIT seminar papers that demonstrate development of ability
to identify themes and theses and provide adequate text support of themes
excerpts
from papers that show progress in development of ideas and ability to compare/contrast
diverse concepts
excerpts
from MIT papers that demonstrate knowledge of learning theories and social
construction of knowledge
Your
documentation must be accompanied by a Reflective Essay.
III.WHO
AM I AS A TEACHER/RESEARCHER?
Purpose:
To demonstrate graduate level skills in identifying and pursuing research
that relates directly to improved teaching and learning .
Using
the required documentation and any other pieces you choose to use,
this section should showcase your ability to:
pose
viable, relevant research questions
research
and analyze historical and contemporary professional material related to
your understanding of teaching and learning
identify
the personal filters and biases that will affect your interpretations of
your research
analyze
and apply theory into practice, and to differentiate between your own projections
and assumptions from description and observation
Required
portfolio evidence:
annotations
for several articles found in professional journals that relate to your
research interests
Your
documentation must be accompanied by a Reflective Essay.