There are already countless concrete methods and ideas for realizing “good education,” and this information is now readily available. More to the point, it may be said that there is so much of this information that we are literally “flooded” with it. Surrounded by this vast amount of information and expectations from society, teachers, the main providers of education, do actually want to practice better education, but are too busy with their daily activities to spare the time to think about it very much. When becoming teachers, or even after having become a teacher, there are not really sufficient opportunities to answer the questions that bring a self-realization of the fundamentals of being an educator, such as the kind of teacher one wants to be, how one wants the pupils and students in the classroom to grow up, and what one wants them to learn.
 
The Teaching Portfolio Chart (TP Chart) introduced in this book is a tool for discovering the fundamentals as an educator through reflection on one’s own educational activities. “What kind of teacher do I want to be? How do I want pupils and students to grow up? What academic knowledge do I want them to learn, and how?” The answers to these questions are not provided by other people. By identifying the elements of the fundamentals of education through self-reflection, the improvement of education will become your “personal property” in a true sense, and you will be able to determine your own direction as a teacher and choose the information you need according to your intentions. In addition, you will be able to recognize your own value as an educator and take pride in the education you give.
 
The purpose of this book is not simply to increase knowledge about the TP chart, but to actually create one’s own TP chart to enable readers to discover one’s own educational philosophy. It is assumed that readers are people who are engaged in or wish to engage in education, but from the notion that the act of teaching appears in a great diversity of situations in society, it is not limited to teachers. The book is therefore intended for all readers who want to consider what they value most about the act of teaching something to other people.
 
This book consists of three parts, and can be read starting anywhere, depending on what you want to know. Please look at Part 1 if you want to know about the TP Chart itself, Part 2 if you want to know how to create a TP Chart in concrete detail, or Part 3 if you want to know about the teaching portfolio rather than the TP Chart. Reference literature and related websites are listed at the end of the book. As the author, I particularly recommend Chapters 3 and 4 in Part 2, which contain specific examples of TP charts by four teachers and the process where the educational philosophy is deepened in a roundtable discussion.
 
I will be delighted if this book is read by people who wish to give careful thought to their stance on “teaching.”
 

(Written by KURITA Kayoko, Professor, Graduate School of Education / 2021)

Related Info

Explanation Videos:
[sample video]1. (Igaku-Shoin | YouTube　March 16, 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrkNG4Rb-QQ
 
[sample video]8. (Igaku-Shoin | YouTube　March 16, 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWRTgMDCu3I
 
Related Article:
[in Japanese] Development and Evaluation of a Teaching Portfolio Chart and a Workshop in its Creation for the Purpose of Reflection on Teaching Activities　(“Education Development Studies”Volume 1  2022)
https://doi.org/10.57294/jaed.1.0_19

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