Week 5 -: The Professional Portfolio- Career Development - Essay Example

The Professional Portfolio- Career Development To begin with we would like to explain meaning of the term “professional portfolio”. Simply speaking, professional portfolio is a set of a person’s skills, qualifications, achievements and realized projects that characterize this person as a professional in some particular area. Generally, it is a combination of previous professional experience of a person and his/her personal and professional qualifications. We can say that professional portfolio is a snapshot of a person.

It is needed, first of all, for a potential employer. Using it, an employer can see your achievements and results of previous work. Professional portfolio is a broader item than a CV. CV provides a list of your qualifications and achievements, while portfolio provides evidences of them. Therefore, the role of professional portfolio in career just cannot be overestimated.“Portfolios have much to offer the teaching profession,” writes Dr. Kenneth Wolf, of the University of Colorado. “When teachers carefully examine their own practices, those practices are likely to improve.

The examples of accomplished practice that portfolios provide also can be studied and adapted for use in other classrooms.” And its more than just a good idea. In many places, teachers and administrators must now renew their professional licenses” (The Professional Portfolio).Thus, professional portfolio is essential for any profession and area. Of course, some professions provide more possibilities for creation of professional portfolio. The following task is to define the main elements that should be included in a professional portfolio.

We believe that the following elements must be integral components of a professional portfolio:1. The list of a person’ professional skills and qualifications;2. The list of a person’s personal skills;3. A person’s previous working experience;4. Information about a person’s education;5. Some additional background information about a person that may be important;6. The list of realized projects and professional achievements;7. The list of some certificates or even rewards that prove a person’s qualifications.

The first five elements are also present in a person’s CV. That is why they are not obligatory. However, they may be included to remind this information and make it easier for an employer to surf all the provided documents. Additionally, a professional portfolio may include examples of a person’s work, examples of previous projects, etc.The process of development of professional portfolio should be a constant one. It should last during the whole career. A person should new achievements to this portfolio in the time they occur.

Generally, there are some rules of creation of a portfolio, but everything is up to a person. Moreover, it can differentiate significantly between the different professions. Talking about me, i believe that my professional portfolio should include evidences of the following achievements:1. Day Care Certificate Florida Child Care and Education Program Administrator (Director) Credential2. Unified Early Childhood ProTech Teacher Certification Program3. Designed policies and procedures for creating a good and interactive learning environment.4. Documentation of every project and report submission to highlight achievements and problems5.

Developed lesson plans in accordance with needs of children.6. Developed kids’ educational programs so that parents can be guided about their child’s further educational needs.First of all, these achievements are very important and prove my degree of professionalism. Second of all, they are easy to be proved in a documental way. That is why they have been chosen for my professional portfolio.ReferenceThe professional Portfolio. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/professional-portfolio