My Personal Statement – My Philosophy of Education

For your professional portfolio, you need to write your personal statement which sums up your philosophy of education. Guided by a tool that was provided by the trainers in the NPSTSL Program for writing the personal statement,  I have just finished writing my personal statement as a leader which I put here for you to guide you when writing your statement. I hope you find it useful.

My Philosophy of Education

My philosophy of education springs from my long experience of teaching, training and leading people. I believe in team work so I prefer my staff to work collaboratively. To get the best out of them, I always praise their work, motivate them and build bridges of trust among faculties.

As a leader, it is my responsibility to provide a safe teaching/ learning environment for students. I believe in differentiated instruction and student-centered classrooms. I think teachers should have good rapport with students.  We need to provide students with different resources and class activities. We should also activate learner autonomy.

My school is not just about getting qualifications and passing National Tests. In my school we look forward to graduating students who stand out by their unique scientific and social skills in a learning environment characterized by dedication to the national and social sense. This educational environment should be equipped with modern technology and open to others, preserving the teachings of Islam and respecting Qatari customs and traditions.

As a school leader, I make sure that parents have a say in the school vision, mission and policies. I encourage them to cooperate with the school in establishing procedures by which the community becomes involved in developing school programs.

I keep up-to-date with professional learning by attending training courses, reading about and applying new trends of teaching and leadership. I reflect upon and record my thoughts about teaching, training and leadership on my blog which is available for everyone on the Internet.

Preparing Your Portfolio for Attestation

Only yesterday, Tuesday 18 October, we resumed professional development sessions in our school “Ahmed Bin Hanbal Independent Secondary School for Boys.

The session focused on preparing professional portfolios for attestation so the session was entitled “Preparing your portfolio for attestation“. The session started by clarifying the objectives that can be summed up here:

•Identify the different sections of a portfolio

•Identify the contents of each section

•Have a look at the new templates of the attestation office and how to use them

•Name evidences of practice for each category

•Know how to apply for the Full Licence.

Then I started by eliciting the five section or folders of a teacher’s or a coordinator’s portfolio. It was also important to identify the contents of each section.

Section 1

This section includes your curriculum vitae.  It must include a personal statement of your educational philosophy.

Section 2

This is your self-audit (Self-Review).  It is a personal reflection on your progress in working with the national professional standards.

Section 3

This is an evaluation of your teaching prepared by an independent person.  It will most likely be a school evaluation.

Section 4

This is a copy of any awards, certificates and professional development that are relevant to your teaching practice.

Section 5

This contains evidence of practice.  You must present eight folders of evidence that cover all twelve standards. You need you fill in an evidence submission form with each evidence of practice.

Then we moved on to discussing evidences of practice for teachers which are:

•Lesson and unit planning  (Planning)

•Teaching resource/s (Delivery)

•Assessment tool/s (Assessment)

•Student assessment data (Measurement of outcomes, and use of data)

•Student feedback (Student feedback on planning, delivery and outcomes)

•Appraisal/observation by independent person/s  (Independent feedback on planning delivery and outcomes)

•Community feedback (Community feedback on planning delivery and outcomes)

•Teacher reflection (Self Reflection on planning, delivery and outcomes)

We also conducted a comparison between a teacher’s portfolio and that of a leader. We ended up by how a teacher or a leader can apply for the full professional licence using the new templates from the Attestation Office.

It has been decided that next sessions should focus on the practical side of preparing  a portfolio.

You can download this presentation here.

Professional Portfolios

On Sunday dated 26 December, I conducted  a workshop on professional portfolios and how a teacher can prepare his professional portfolio against the national professional standards so as to be able to get the full professional licence. After discussing the five folders needed for the portfolio and the contents of each folder, I presented the updated version of my portfolio. The presentation was successful and valuable as I talked explicitly about each folder and its contents. Most teachers needed to have a look at one of the examples of completed portfolios.

Now staff are familiar with the contents of the five sections (folders) of a portfolio. This is going to be consolidated by displaying more examples of portfolios from other colleagues in different school departments. To help teachers prepare their portfolios, I have uploaded the five folders template (NPST Portfolio). You can simply download it and use it to prepare your own portfolio. Besides, a blank PowerPoint template is going to be delivered so that teachers can use it to prepare their own portfolios (presentations) which they can use to present their portfolios when being attested.

You can download the five folders template (NPST Portfolio) here.

And you can also download a copy of the updated version of my portfolio here.