Newsletter May 2022: Teaching portfolios

The existing job structure (in Danish only) for academic staff at universities stipulates, among other things that:

1. ”It is the responsibility of the university to ensure that academic staff who teach possess the required pedagogical-didactic competences to conduct the specific teaching tasks.”
2. ”University faculty in principal positions (assistant professor/researcher, associate professor/senior researcher, and professor) and in other positions with teaching responsibilities, must continuously maintain and develop their acquired pedagogical and didactic competences. The University must provide a plan for the maintenance and development of competences. All staff with teaching duties must continuously discuss with their leader how to best maintain and/or develop their pedagogical-didactic competences in the intermediate periods between discussions.”

In addition, all teaching staff must, according to the job structure, prepare and continuously update a teaching portfolio.

The teaching portfolio may support both the summative requirement (1.) and the more formative requirement (2.) of the job structure. 

Portfolios as assessment tools

Each faculty at SDU has a description of the expected content of the teaching portfolios. However, research has shown that assessment of portfolios, for instance in connection with job applications, can be experienced as a challenging task by the assessors.

A Danish study described how the members of assessment panels evaluating applications for academic positions at a university were often not familiar with the assessment criteria adopted in the specific context. This resulted in assessments that were normative rather than aligned with the proposed criteria. These norms were for example perceived initiative, interest, vision, or management experience in relation to teaching. In addition, the members of the assessment panel who were familiar with the assessment criteria found it difficult to assess pedagogical competences, and they felt that they lacked pedagogical language in their assessment statements (Kobayashi et al., 2017).

In addition, a Swedish study has demonstrated how members of such assessment panels who have received training in assessing teaching portfolios, make more comprehensive, qualitative and systematic statements on the applicants’ pedagogical competences. Compared to untrained assessors, they had more focus on the congruence between applicants’ teaching philosophies and their pedagogical practices, the adequacy of the evidence for claims made, teachers’ reflections on teaching practices, and on the theoretical/scientific foundations for teaching practices. In addition, their statements more often mentioned: lacking information in portfolios, present/absent merits, and the extent of assessment criteria fulfillment (Bolander, 2018).

There are currently no officially adopted assessment criteria for the assessment of teaching portfolios at SDU, but SDU Centre for Teaching and Learning (SDUUP) has developed a guide to assessment of teaching portfolios, a guide which will support the task of evaluating the applicants’ pedagogical competences. 

Portfolios as development instruments

A new and not yet published survey study of SDU teachers recently found that for around ¾ of respondents the teaching portfolio played no role in their preparation for the annual appraisals, and in most cases (85%) the discussions of teaching in the appraisals were not based on teachers’ teaching portfolios. The teaching portfolios may thus constitute an underused resource, as they have the potential to support continuous development of teaching and teachers as may other initiatives, such as colleague supervision. 

This would however require the portfolios to contain more than just retrospective, CV-like elements (i.e. lists of completed teaching and formal competence development).

Research has indicated that the formulation of a teaching philosophy as part of the preparation of a teaching portfolio may be important for the development and awareness of teachers’ teacher identities. 

If the portfolio is intended for development purposes, for instance in connection with staff appraisals, it must include a description of a real and important pedagogical challenge experienced by the teacher. The challenge identified by the teacher must be supported by evidence from others, for example from the students (student evaluations of teaching, student performances, assignments etc.) or from colleagues (e.g. observations in colleague supervisions). Finally, such a practice reflection piece should also include the teacher’s own reflections and suggested development plan in terms of teaching and teaching competences. Little-Wienert & Mazziotti (2018) have written a useful guide to support teachers with the process of assembling a teaching portfolio.  

Courses and workshops

If you and your colleagues want SDUUP to arrange a local, tailor-made workshop on teaching portfolios at your department, feel free to contact us.