KGSNewspaper2013 volume1

Master of Teaching ( MTeach )

CAMPUS & SCHOOL-BASED

Guidance to the

Professional Development Portfolio 1 ( PDP1 ) GEMS Leadership stand-alone module

Professional Development Portfolios

A professional development portfolio ( PDP ) is a working document containing evidence and critical reflection , which you can revise and update throughout your career . Creating and maintaining a PDP will engage you in a process that is now widely recognised as beneficial to ongoing career development . It will encourage you to reflect on knowledge , understanding , and skills learnt from past experiences and current activities , to identify needs , and to plan for future development .

Presenting a professional development portfolio for assessment provides a good opportunity for enhancing professional development in teaching and leadership . The thought that goes into the careful selection of material , drafting statements , sharing those statements with others , and researching areas related to practice will enable you to articulate your practice in a particular way . The context in which you undertake this task is an integral part of the process and will be made up of many elements , such as :

• your own skills and abilities ;

• your developmental pathways and objectives / career aspirations as a leader ;

• the classes you teach / leadership roles and responsibilities ;

• teaching strategies / leadership styles ;

• individual students and their particular needs and abilities / team members and their needs and abilities ;

• the colleagues you work with inside and outside your institution ; school ; corporate office ;

• the particular institutional context ;

• the local setting ;

• policy and curriculum agendas / school and departmental development plans and selfevaluation forms ;

• pedagogical and adragogical developments ;

• the findings of wider educational research .

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