Predicament of professional identity

Reflecting on a Predicament of Professional Identity

Carolyn Harkness Australian Catholic University

E: [email protected]: http://www.slideshare.net/HarknessC/predicament-of-professional-identity

Today’s child?Today’s child?It is a challenge to manage the rapid It is a challenge to manage the rapid changes in ..culture, globalization, changes in ..culture, globalization, technology.technology.

© 2012 Carolyn Harkness All rights reserved.

Objectives Objectives

• Establish • the professional identity of those who educate children in

prior-formal-school-settings as teachers.

• Encourage • academic staff and pre-service teachers to consider a

variety of ePortfolio platforms to substantiate their developing professional identity to a wider, potentially global, audience.

• Investigate• digital approaches that both connect key information and

enables clear university-wide outcomes for all.


ApproachApproach

• Evolving• encouraging a culture where the gradual and natural

collaborative processes at at work shaping the professional identity.

• Efficient• Incorporating a deliberate integration of digital technologies

to deliver an engaging teaching and learning program.

• Effective• Harnessing standard review processes to identify success.


EvolvingEvolving

• Identity Formation -> Self-concept• Attachment• Self-image

• Cultural identity

• Gender identity• Professional Identity


EfficientEfficient

• Student Management:• Persistence• Respectful

• Teaching Approaches• Model• Ignore• Praise• Restructure• Prevent• Redirect


EffectiveEffective

• Resilience over time and amidst change• Positive self-esteem• High level of attention regulation• Good role-models of responsive and caring

attitudes


Process within the ChildProcess within the Child

• High well-being• Alert, confident,

engaged and happy.

• Low well-being• Basic needs are not

being met.

• High involvement• Engaged, enterprising,

motivated.

• Low involvement• Staring, absent, slow to

start, easily distracted,

Student


Approach Process Outcome

Well-being Involvement

The SpaceThe materials

ActivitiesInteraction with others

The organisationSafety …

Motor developmentLanguage skills

CuriositySocial competence

Self relianceSelf confidence …

Laevers, F., 2005


What about the ePortfolios?What about the ePortfolios?

• Embedded• Staged in development with the student

• Explicit instruction and modeling• Examples, workshops with simple directions

• Purposeful• Prepared as a component of critical reflection

• Practice• Presented to peers



Transition into the Profession• Offered with a Practicum component• Discussion-board on Moodle

• Structured, but student led

• Professional Development Plan• Using current employment practice

• ePortfolio• Limited content > specific requirements

• Free to explore own platform



Observations• Virtually all started a fresh ePortfolio• Student-led discussion-board • Professional Development Plan included• Platform preference?

• 12% Microsoft Word

• 25% Wordpress.com ®

• 63% Newer web-authoring software



Observations• Artefacts

• All sourced from the early years of Primary

• 25% sourced from childcare

• Most were pristine word documents or pdfs

• Annotations• Clearly reflected the Early Childhood pedagogy

developed in Childcare and honed in Primary.

Education

Predicament of professional identity