Contact: adrienne@huber.net | other contact particulars
This paper is intended to illuminate information from my curriculum vitae. Specifically, I address the following issues:
My referees are able to attest to my experience and practice as a teacher in a school and at the tertiary level. I address each of these issues below.
Dr Adrienne Huber: Teaching Portfolio
8/9/98
I have taught most age groups from Kindergarten (Pre-Primary) through to Year 12 and adults and acted as a consultant to staff and parents in several Early Childhood Centres. My school based work has all been using negotiated curricula within a holistic and integrated framework across the curriculum. At the University of Canberra, I taught the following subjects:
I currently work with experienced teachers helping them to develop appropriate literacy assessment strategies to meet their and their students' needs. I also work with Aboriginal students studying for their Diploma in Aboriginal Mental Health. Much of my work focuses on developing appropriate literacy skills in these students as they learn the content and processes involved in their course. I use what the students already know to further develop these skills. My approach with my current students is consistent with my goals as a teacher in the school classroom and also as an academic working in a University.
My primary goals as an academic teacher may be summarised as follows:
I always go out of my way to help students experiencing difficulties an approach which was really tested with the unit Professional Communication Skills which was a large group with a very high percentage of students for whom English was a third, fourth or subsequent language and others who were highly accomplished in English as their first language. I enjoy working with students and actively apply many of my inclusive and integrated primary classroom practices to the tertiary setting.
Professional development is an ongoing process for me as I both give and receive training through my professional activities. For a number of years, I have actively participated in professional activities related to my area of research including attending and frequently presenting papers and/or workshops at several state, national and international conferences. I was also the Early Childhood Representative (by invitation) on the ACT Literacy Task Force and have been a member of the ACT and NSW Child and ESL Literacy Nodes. Specific examples of my leadership and innovation in teaching includes:
While at the University of Canberra, I chose to participate in a Quality Teaching and Learning discussion group and in an action learning project which began just before I left. I found both these activities very supportive and rewarding and would like to again participate in such groups.
I have attached a copy of a paper (The work of the Primary Teacher into the Twenty First Century: The case of literacy teaching and learning at one school ). I wrote the following paper on my work at a school in Canberra as part of a reflection process on my own practices and conceptual development as a teacher/learner. While a reflection of teaching practice, this paper is also a statement of my philosophy and goals as a teacher/learner. I strongly believe we need to equip ourselves and our students with the skills and means to be flexible, dynamic and responsive to our and their experiences as we prepare ourselves and our students for a world we do not and cannot really know.
From this perspective, my primary goal in teaching students at whatever level is to be able to make meaning from their experiences and apply and assess that meaning in whatever context they may find themselves. How I do this is usually through collaborative and student managed learning always encouraging students to push boundaries and take ownership of their own learning and their learning environment.
How I teach is a response to my student's learning needs which I continually evaluate while I am teaching.
How I evaluate my teaching and my students' learning
At the University of Canberra, I regularly evaluated my courses. This process involved informal questionnaires and open feedback from students through class representatives, email or however they wished to communicate with me, including anonymously. I also worked with Tutors under my supervision and regularly sought feedback from them about the quality of my teaching, teaching resources and supervision. The forms of evaluation I have used can be summarised as follows:
I believe my experiences at the AME School and the School Without Walls have taught me what all students are capable of in their learning when they are able to make decisions about and take up ownership of their learning, if necessary, with the help of peers, a teacher or another adult. Above all, I have learned from these experiences the importance of developing consistent mutual respect in all interactions with my students and workshop participants.
My teaching and assessment methods
Teaching and learning strategies I have used include:
I prefer to be clear about what I plan to teach my students and then work responsively with them. Working responsively means being able to (re)write/refocus lectures and restructure/refocus tutorials at short notice in order to meet student needs. I try to lead by example at all times as I do not expect my students to do something I would not (want to) do.
The reasoning behind my approach to teaching and learning has evolved from many years of regular reflection, reading and research and my view regarding the essential role of mutual respect in developing effective teaching/learning environments. My approach may be encapsulated as follows:
I always try to contextualise what I teach and encourage my students to do likewise. I do this because I believe my students can see that when I am able to contextual what I am teaching I have taken ownership of what I have learned and am now teaching them. I try to lead by example. I also adapt what and how I am teaching in response to my students' responses to what I am presenting to them. Again, if I expect them to learn to develop skills and ability to be flexible, dynamic and responsive to their experiences I have to lead by example. For me, teaching, assessment and evaluation are all part of the one responsive process of teaching/learning in the classroom situation.
My approach to assessment is one of diversity and flexibility with a definite preference for qualitative assessment which includes negotiating meaningful assessments with the students. I have also used norm referenced, criterion based assessment when that has been a requirement of my work. The range of assessment practices I have used include:
I have worked with students of all ages to negotiate both curriculum and assessment including subject, length, time frame and format while encouraging students to explore and expand their own preferred learning styles. For example, I have encouraged students I am currently working with to record their reflections in their journals using whatever method they feel most suits them including stories, drawings, paintings, artefacts, poetry, music, and so on. I have also used their strong storytelling skills to help them learn how to develop more academic style literacy skills always building on what they already know rather than destroying and starting from scratch. This seems to have been a most effective way to encourage the students to write , talk, share and read more, to connect more of what they are learning with what they already know and do in the field. Many of these students do not have strong literacy skills with which to record their experiences and this is one way I am encouraging them to further develop the skills they do have.
Several of my former students are well into their careers and have, at times, told me how what I taught them has been very helpful in their work (sometimes I even recall having taught what they say I did!). At the University of Canberra, I worked with an undergraduate student on independent studies in her second and third years and supervised her thesis in her honours year. She now has a job as an international consultant (earning more than most academics a year after only a couple of years in the workforce!). Her work with me has stood her in good stead in her career to date.
I believe my school and tertiary teaching experiences, goals and strengths (including leadership, scholarship and innovations) as a teacher/learner, my teaching and assessment methods and how I evaluate my teaching and my students' learning show a genuine desire to thrive and excel in what I do so my students and those with whom I work may also be encouraged to thrive and excel in what they do.