Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVCU Scholars Compass

Art Education Publications Dept. of Art Education

2011

Preparing a Professional Teaching Portfolio for anArt Teaching PositionMelanie L. BuffingtonVirginia Commonwealth University, mbuffington@vcu.edu

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Preparing a

PROFESSIONALTEACHINGPORTFOLIOfor an Art Teaching PositionBY MELANIE L. BUFFINGTON

Over time, the idea of bringing a professional teachingportfolio to a job interview has become an expecta-tion. Preparing these portfolios is a common part of

teacher education programs and can be excellent preparationfor a job interview. Additionally, teachers who are looking intochanging positions will need to prepare a professional portfolioand this process may help them reflect on their practice too.The habits required for creating a professional teaching port-folio—including documenting classroom practices, reflectingon these practices, and organizing this content—are habits thatcan enhance teaching practice throughout a career.

In my position in a university art educationdepartment, I work with preservice teachers as theyprepare their professional portfolios. They frequentlyask excellent questions and I find that I do not alwayshave the answers to their questions. Though I sharemy personal experiences with students, it is ohviousthat my experiences creating a portfolio and usingin the job search process are dated. After searchingin the literature in our field, I found some recentwork on the job search process at various levels(Bain, 2005; Buffington & Lai, 2006), some workon portfolios In general (Bullock & Hawk, 2000;Campbell, Cignetti, Melenyzer, Nettles, & Wyman,2007; Constantino & De Lorenzo, 2006; Kimball,2003; Seldin, 2004; Wyatt & Looper, 2004), butlittle that was specific to the creation of professionalportfolios for art educators. The many books and'"''''̂ 1'=^ f""«"" S'̂ '̂ eral education about professional

Detail from an image ofpersonal work from a jobapplicant's portfolio. Seepage 15.

teaching portfolios address numerous importantgeneral concerns. However, to better understand theexpectations of professional portfolios in the field ofart education, I conducted a survey of art curriculumsupervisors who are members of the Supervisionand Administration Division of the National ArtEducation Association to learn about how they useportfolios in the hiring process. Of the 469 membersof the Supervision and Administration Division, Ireceived 93 responses to the survey. In this article, Ishare some suggestions based on the data from thesurvey and offer advice to job applicants regardingthe creation of a professional teaching portfolio.

What is a professional teachingportfolio?

A professional teaching portfolio is a carefullyselected, organized collection of artifacts that showthe applicant's abilities in multiple facets of art educa-tion. These artifacts provide evidence of knowledge,dispositions, and skills as an art educator (Campbell,et. al, 2007). For art educators, professional portfoliostypically contain artifacts that show their creden-tials as a teacher, their lesson or unit plans, theirpersonal artwork, and their students' artwork. Thisinformation is organized into a high-quality binderor another format that allows for some flexibility inadding or removing information. The professionalteaching portfolio should showcase the best that anapplicant can do, rather than all that the applicanthas done. Both the content and the presentation areextremely important. Assembling a high-qualityprofessional teaching portfolio takes a significant

May 2011 /ART EDUCATION 11

amount of time and the process involvesreviewing documents and images, selectingthe best to use, creating new documents andimages, and reformatting existing items to beconsistent throughout the portfolio.

Why do I need one?Portfolios have become an expected item

for art educators to use in the interviewprocess; 89% of the curriculum supervi-sors who responded to the survey indicatedthat they expect an applicant to come toan interview with a teaching portfolio. Theother respondents said that though theydid not always expect applicants to come totheir interviews with a portfolio, that it wascertainly an asset to the job applicants if theyhad one. Using a portfolio in an interviewallows applicants the opportunity not justto tell the interviewer about a particularlysuccessful lesson or unit, but also to show theinterviewer the lesson or unit plan, images ofthe artmaking process, the students' finishedart, and to explain the assessment. Thisenables a job applicant to showcase a widerange of abilities and skills relevant to theteaching position.

In addition to meeting the expecta-tion of art supervisors, job applicants alsoneed a professional teaching portfoliobecause creating it is a meaningful way toreflect on their strengths as teachers and asartists. Additionally, through the process ofchoosing artifacts and writing captions, jobapplicants may see connections betweentheir teaching and artmaking that were notpreviously visible.

What should be in myprofessional teaching portfolio?

The documents that are commonly in ateaching portfolio for art educators includea resume, a teaching philosophy, lesson orunit plans, personal artworks, and studentartworks. Other items may also be includedin a portfolio, but they need to add a signifi-cant piece to the picture of a well-preparedart educator. When selecting items for aprofessional portfolio, it is important toconsider, "What does this artifact add to theportfolio that is not already shown?" Thebest portfolio is not necessarily the longestportfolio. Wyatt and Looper (2004) suggestthat the portfolio building process includesfour steps: Collecting artifacts, Organizingartifacts. Reflecting on artifacts, andPresenting artifacts. Tliey use the acronymCORP to represent this process and further

suggest that portfolios be created with aspecific audience in mind.

The curriculum supervisors whoresponded to the survey indicated that theyagree or strongly agree that these itemsbelong in a professional teaching portfolio:

• Resume (99%)• Teaching philosophy (97%)• Images of student art' (96%)• Lesson plans (95%)• Applicant's own artwork (91%)• Letters of recommendation (86%)• Assessment rubrics (85%)• Teaching license (82%)• Transcripts (76%)• Classroom management plan (68%)

CredentialsCredentials consist of the documents that

show professional abilities and eligibility fora teaching position. These include a resume,a teaching philosophy, a teaching certificateor license, and possibly a transcript or testscores. The supervisors who responded tothe survey indicated that their preferredlength for a resume is between 1 and 2 pagesand that a teaching philosophy should beno more than 1 page. It is important towrite these documents succinctly and keepthem free of jargon. Job applicants shouldremember that both art educators andgeneralist educators may be involved in thehiring process and the documents in a port-folio should be meaningful to both of theseaudiences.

Writing a teaching philosophy can bea challenge. While writing one, job appli-cants might think about what aspects ofeducation are important and what they doin the classroom to show that. A teachingphilosophy should be relatively short, usecommon educational language, and provideconcrete examples of how the philosophyplays out in daily teaching practice. In somedistricts, a principal will interview jobapplicants and her/his background may bein science education, special education, orphysical education. Thus, it is important thata teaching philosophy explain art educationterms (i.e. visual culture or Discipline-BasedArt Education [DBAE]) or use terms fromgeneral education (i.e. multiculturalism).If an applicant mentions in the philosophythat educational technology is important,the applicant should think about ways toshow that throughout the portfolio. Thiscould be through the inclusion of a unit thatrelates to Web 2.0, involves social media or

image-editing software, or includes artistswho work with digital technologies. Further,an applicant for an art teaching positioncould include some of her or his own digitalartwork.

Lesson or Unit PlansMost educators include 2-3 excellent

lesson or unit plans in their portfolios.When selecting which ones to include, it isimportant to recognize that the choice oflesson or unit plans reflects the applicant'sphilosophy of education. If an applicantchooses to include a lesson that relates tothe elements and principles of design, thisis a philosophical statement about what arteducation is. Lesson or unit plans need tobe formatted to fit the portfolio structureand should include images of the teachingand artmaking process throughout the plandocument itself

In order to create a cohesive portfolio, itis a good idea to think about the statementof teaching philosophy and choose lessonsor units that show how this philosophycomes to life through classroom practices.For instance, if a philosophy states thatcooperative learning and multiculturalismare important and the units this applicantincludes in the portfolio relate to studentsmaking independent paintings in the style ofvan Gogh, there is a significant disconnectbetween what the applicant said was impor-tant and what the applicant actually does inthe art classroom.

Additionally, it is also important to ensurethat the objectives of the lessons or unitscorrelate to the assessment instrumentincluded. This likely requires a unique rubricfor each lesson or unit that a job applicantincludes in the professional teaching port-folio. During an interview, one curriculumsupervisor indicated that when reviewingapplicants' unit plans, he always looks fora meaningful big idea or theme, reviewsthe unit objectives, looks at the assessmentrubric to make sure the objectives are beingassessed, and looks for images of resultingstudent art with every unit plan.

When choosing the lesson or unit plansto include, applicants should considerthe schools to which they are applying.For instance, if a teacher is interested inapplying to a high school and only includeselementary units, this applicant may notappear to be a good fit for the position.Also, if the job is a ceramics position andan applicant includes only 2-D based units,this person also will not appear to be a good

12 ART EDUCATION / May 2011

Unit 1 - Tradition"Longevity in Korean Folk Art*

Projected # of Days: 4 days, 45min periodsTargeted Student Group: 5 "' grade. Suburban

Overview

his lesson, rhe smdents will learn

about traditional Korean fbik an

'Shipjangsengdo" which refers 10 long living

symbols: sun. mounrain, water, rock, cloud. ,i

pine tree, never dying plant, nirtle. deer, anti

crane. After learning al>out Korean tradition.ii

folk art, the students will create their own

artwork using these symbols and coll^raphy techniques. This iut process will help students experience

coUa^aphy techniques with diverse patterns, sha|^s, lines, and composition in their artwork.

Big Idea: Tradition

Key Concepts

• A tradition is customs t au^ t by one generation to the next.

Essential Questions:

• What is a tradition?

• How does a tradition change in differenr cultures?

Unit Objectives

• After disaissing about Korean folk art Shipjansengdo, the students -will be able to àcnnt ] 0

synibtïls oHongevity in Korean folk art.

• After learning about a coliagraphy technique, the smdents will be able to create coll^raphy

plates using diverse materials such as paper, string, giue, and fabric.

• After creating coliagraphy plates using synÜMÍs oflongevity, the students will be able to print

the colla^phy plates using brayer and printing press.

• After experiencing coliagraphy printmaking. the students will be able to identify chc difference

between painting and princmaldng.

Materials and Vocabularies

• John Bikers' arrwork, ktcer size papers, pencils, erasers, rulers, watercolor, brushes, glues, index

catds

• Pattern, symbol, bi-lateraî, radial symmetry, complementary, analogous color, resistance,

texture, gridding

Process of the lessonsStep I

After reviewing the .'iymbols in John Biggers' arrwork, rhe students represented their ftiture 5 importantvalues and interests in the form of symbols. Using bi-lateral or radial symmetry which is a form of JohnBiggers* artwork, the students developed sketches of cheir iiiture selves.

Step 2

The students created physical growth in their own art by using a gridding process. After discussing hownew experience can make people grow, the students created diverse lines, patterns, and textures inspiredby a new experience using

Step 3

The students painted watercolor on the surface with dried glue and candle wax using complementary oranalogous color inspired by a positive relationship with someone who might have an effect on theirfuture, "1 he students finished watercolor painting and wrote about their works of an which were relatedwith growth and future selves

3

Examples of how a job applicant reformatted unit plans for her professional teaching portfolio.

Using a portfolio in an interview allows applicants the opportunity not just to tell

the interviewer about a particularly successful lesson or unit, but also to show the

interviewer the lesson or unit plan, images of the artmakingprocess, the students'

finished art, and to explain the assessment.

May 2011/ART EDUCATION 13

Animals In Our Neighborhood

Students learned about the folk artist Bill Traylor and the concepi of community. Then,students painted animals they see in their own communities, and gave them texture using

oil pastels.

Images of a student work in process, a close-up of a finished work, and a picture of the display ofstudent work in the school.

Because the vast majority of supervisors

(75%) indicated a preference for a hard copy

professional teaching portfolio, it would be

wise for applicants to take a hard copy to an

interview and also provide a CD/DVD or

link to a website for future viewing.

fit. For preservice teachers planning ahead fortheir job search, it is a good idea to intentionallywrite lessons and units directed at different levelsutilizing different media so they have a selectionof high-quality curricula frotn which to select fortheir professional teaching portfolio.

Images of Student ArtIt is quite irnportant to showcase in a portfolio

what students learned. Images ol student workand the process that they utilized to rnake this artcan significantly help in showing their learning.When making selections of student art for ateaching portfolio, include multiple students' workfrom each unit so that the interviewer can see therange of what students do. Though at one point,the goal may have been for student work to lookquite similar, it is now considered a better practiceto allow students to make work that is person-ally meaningful—this likely will look different(Roberts, 2005; Walker, 2001). Also, with eachimage of student work, include the age ofthestudent, the title ofthe lesson or unit, a statemetitabout the artmaking process, and a sentence ortwo about the meaning of the artwork. Think aboutincluding images that show the entire artmakingprocess including students working on their art,the finished pieces, and an exhibition ofthe work.

Images of Personal ArtWhen job applicants select images of their own

art to include, it is important to use high-qualityimages of high-quality artworks. One curriculumsupervisor commented that, "If applicants cannotdistinguish high and low quality among their ownartworks, how can they assess student art?" Keepin mind that the supervisors indicated a strongpreference for traditional art materials. Nurnerousrespondents indicated that certain types of artworkmade principals uncomfortable and that appli-cants need to be careful in their image selection.Based upon the survey responses, the curriculumsupervisors think that some principals assutrte thatteaching applicants' personal artwork has a directcorrelation to the type of art they will teach theirstudents.

As a job applicant, you need to make decisionsabout how you will handle this situation. Basedupon the results of this study, it seems safer to keepnude figure drawings out of a professional teachingportfolio, but applicants needs to decide if a schoolthat would not hire someone who does figuredrawing in their own time is a school in whichthey want to teach. Alternatively, job applicants cancreate artworks specifically for their portfolio too.If figure drawing is an applicant's emphasis, she orhe could make drawings of feet or hands that areless likely to oflend.

14 ART EDUCATION / May 2011

"Girl #5"

Acrylic Paint

18"X IS"

2009

This painting is based on a collection of seven mixed media portraits of woman that portray femininity.

The common medium includes paint, origami paper, hair pieces or halos, glitter, and found objects. I

was inspired by the serene expressions on the woman's faces coexisting with landscape backgrounds.

The halos and hair pieces praise femininity as a strong peaceful quality. This piece was featured in an art

showing of the collection at Ipanema Café in Richmond Virginia in the summer of 21

This is an ¡mage of personal work froma job applicant's portfolio. What shediscusses in her teaching philosophy isreflected throughout the portfolio in herworks of art and in the units she chose toinciude. Further, she used high-qualityresume paper throughout the portfolioand consistently put a black borderaround each ¡mage.

This ¡san image of personal artworkfrom an applicant's portfolio. Sheexplains the work in a short captionand includes close-ups of the work.

Items that art educators may not consider offensivemay be offensive to others. For instance, one curriculumsupervisor noted that an applicant's metal work made aprincipal uncomfortable because the principal thoughtthe handmade metal letter opener looked like a weapon.Applicants might include a caption with each imagein order to help viewers understand their artwork.The caption should be brief and include the date, title,medium, and a sentence or two about the meaning of theartwork.

When selecting artworks, it is important to show botha breadth of ability as well as depth of ability in at leastone medium. I suggest including about 8-10 works of artthat include at least 5 different media. Keep in mind thatalthough people who are trained in the visual arts see adifference between a silkscreen, a lithograph, a woodcutprint, and a linoleum cut, those outside the arts mayperceive these as the same medium of printmaking. Whenapplicants choose artworks for their portfolio, it is helpfulto think about how the choice of artwork shows the rangeof classes that the applicants can teach.

;•••.'"'« piece represents'

May 2011 /ART EDUCATION 15

How should I organize theartifacts?

Organizing the artifacts in a portfoliois as important as selecting the artifacts toinclude. The portfolio is a tool for princi-pals and curriculum supervisors to assessan applicants abilities, and it is also a toolfor the applicant to guide the direction ofthe interview. It is important for applicantsto be able to find each artifact quickly andeasily during the interview so they cando more than answer the questions, butalso show the interviewer visual evidenceof what they are saying. Thus, the orga-nization of the portfolio is worth carefulconsideration. One idea that seems to workwell for many applicants about to embarkon their job search is to create sectionsbased around the various competenciesthat the portfolio needs to demonstrate. Forinstance, using section dividers with tabsand breaking the contents of the portfo-lios into chunks seems to work well as anoverall organizational structure. Acrossall sections of a professional portfolio, anapplicant needs to maintain a consistentformat of organization. If the first page ofone section includes a list of all the artifactsin that section, then each section needs tohave a page that lists the artifacts in thesection.

How do I use the portfolio inan interview?

Portfolios can help an applicant duringinterviews. When asked a commoninterview question such as, "Tell me aboutyour best unit," an applicant can flip to thatsection of her or his portfolio and not onlytell the interviewer about the unit, but alsoshow the unit plan, images of the students'artmaking process, the rubric or assessmenttool, images of students' final artworks, anda reflection. Using the portfolio as a toolcan provide applicants with confidenceand also help them remember to mentionimportant details during an interview.Applicants for art teaching positionsshould be prepared to walk a principal orcurriculum supervisor through their entireportfolio if that is what the interviewerrequests. Before an interview, job applicantsshould review the school's website and theNAEA Standards on Teacher Preparationand be prepared to address how the arti-facts in their portfolio show how they are agood fit for the school's mission, and alsohave met all the standards of NAEA.

n n e Ch am bl in

A r t i s tand

Art Instructor

Image of a cover page showing a personal work of art. This job applicant chose to consistentlyuse images of her work on the divider pages throughout her portfolio.

What about an electronicteaching portfolio?

Though an electronic teaching portfoliois an excellent addition to a hard copyportfolio, according to the respondentsof this survey, it should not be viewed asa replacement for a professional teachingportfolio. Of the supervisors surveyed, 75%said they preferred a job applicant to bringa hard copy of a portfolio to the interview.The reasons the supervisors offered forthis included that they might not be ableto have a computer or Internet accessduring the interview and that the use oftechnology may distract from the interviewprocess. One supervisor indicated that,"Our interview committees are rather largeand numbers of interviews are also signifi-cant. It is easier to pass around a port-folio than other options. It also providesinsight to 'a teachable moment' using theportfolio."

Of the curriculum supervisors whoresponded to the survey, 15% indicatedthat they prefer that art teacher applicantsprovide a link to a website for their elec-tronic portfolio and nine percent indicatedthat they preferred to have applicantsgive them CD/DVDs of their portfolios.Because the vast majority of supervisors(75%) indicated a preference for a hardcopy professional teaching portfolio, itwould be wise for applicants to take a hardcopy to an interview and also provide aCD/DVD or link to a website for futureviewing.

16 ART EDUCATION / May 2011

Final SuggestionsBoth the content and the presentation

of the teaching portfolio are extremelyimportant. A portfolio is not a scrapbookand should not contain everything that aneducator has ever done. Instead, it needs toinclude only high quality lesson and unitplans, images, and documents that repre-sent the best of what the applicant can do.Documents that have grades on them; imagesthat are pixilated, blurry, or small; andincomplete documents are not appropriate.Certainly, lessons or units that were createdfor a university class or for another schoolare appropriate, but the formatting needs tochange to a professional looking document.Throughout the portfolio, applicants shoulduse color, fotits, capitalization, paper, etc.consistently.

Though an applicant may be interested inan elementary position, the portfolio shouldnot contain 'cute' images. Clip art picturesof children at easels wearing smocks are notprofessional. Many of the curriculum supervi-sors indicated that they view unorganized.

scrapbook-like, and child-like portfolios as anegative. Additionally, they wrote that poorportfolios included "trite, cutesy, or formulaicimages" or "cutesy colors and rainbows." Theydid not appreciate portfolios that seemedto be "scrapbooking efforts gone bad (cuteborders, stickers, etc.)—not organized."

ConclusionBecause curriculum supervisors expect job

applicants to come to interviews with profes-sional teaching portfolios, it is essential thatart educators prepare meaningful portfo-lios for their job search process. Further, asportfolios are frequently a part of preserviceteacher preparation programs, it is useful todevelop guidelines to assist in the creation ofhigh-quality professional teaching portfolios.In this article I offered suggestions for jobapplicants to create portfolios based uponthe results of a survey of art curriculumsupervisors and my experiences working withpreservice teachers as they prepare for theirjob searches. Because the sample size wassmall, I put these ideas forth as suggestions,

rather than as absolute conclusions. However,I suggest that we, as a field, spend more timeinvestigating the development and use ofprofessional teaching portfolios as a tool forthe interview process and beyond.

Melanie L. Buffington is AssistantProfessor of Art Education at VirginiaCommonwealth University, Richmond.E-mail: mbuffington@vcu.edu

Bain, C. (2005). The secret toobtaining the keys to theart room: Preparing for asuccessful interview. ArtEducation, 58(2), 6-\\.

Buffington, M. L., & Lai, A.(2006). Academic job searches.NABA Advisory. Reston,VA: National Art EducationAssociation.

Bullock, A. A., & Hawk, P. P.(2000). Developing a teachingportfolio. Upper Saddle River,N|: Merrill Prentice Hall.

REFERENCES

Campbell, D. M., Cignetti, P. B.,Melenyzer, B. J., Nettles, D. H.,& Wyman, R. M. (2007). Howto develop a professional port-folio. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Constantino, P. M., & De LorenzoM. N. (2006). Developing aprofessional teaching portfolio: Aguide for success. Boston, MA:Pearson.

Kimball, M. A. (2003). The webportfolio guide. New York, NY:Longman.

Roberts, T. (2005). Teaching realartmaking. Art Education,58(2), 40-45.

Seldin, P. (2004). The teaching

portfolio. Boston, MA: Anker.

Walker, S. R. (2001). Teachingmeaning in artmaking.

Worcester, MA: Davis.

Wyatt, R. L., & Looper, S. (2004).So you have to have a portfolio.Thousand Oaks, CA: CorwinPress.

ENDNOTE1 Because of privacy concerns, it is essential thatprofessional teaching portfolios do not inciudestudents' last names or recognizable images oftheir faces unless their parents have providedwritten permission. Many school districts havepolicies about parental permission and imagereleases. Before taking photographs of studentsor student artwork, it is important to consult andfollow school policies.

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