Reflective Summary

This e-portfolio is a compilation of my experiences gathered during the Postgraduate

Diploma in Education programme. Its creation enabled me to critically assess and analyze my

teaching strategies over the last nine months. It was challenging experience, filled with

numerous intensive assignments, several teaching practices and not to mention class sessions

at the University of the West-Indies School of Education .It provided me with an opportunity

to scrutinize my practices and evaluate the effectiveness of my teaching and learning

strategies. I was exposed to current trends and best practices in the field of education. This e-

portfolio is a culmination of my work for the period August 2017 to April 2018. This

portfolio will serve as a resource material that I will use in the future to improve my teaching

and learning strategies.

Pedagogy can be defined as instructional techniques and strategies that allow learning to

take place. It refers to the interactive process between teacher/practitioner and learner and it

is applied to include the provision of some aspects of the learning environment (Siraj-

Blatchford, Sylva, Muttock, Gilden & Bell, 2002, p.10). As I reflect upon this Pedagogy as

Process course I am reminded of how it felt sitting in a classroom more than twenty years ago

and assisted me to empathize with students entrusted in my care. I was often challenged to

look beyond the surface of the problem and penetrate the root of matter to determine why an

abundance of fruit was not evident in the lives of my students. Through lectures I was

constantly reminded of the significant role in which parents played influencing both the lives

of students and in education. The Language component of this course academic writing and

research assisted me to become a better communicator both in writing and orally.

I learnt many valuable lessons throughout the duration of this course, I was taught how to

become a reflective practitioner, since through reflection we are given an opportunity to

evaluate ourselves as educators. I discovered that no two students are alike and that I needed

to develop new creative strategies to ensure that their learning needs were met. Furthermore,

that each and every student would have different learning styles that I needed to appeal to in

order for learning to take place. I discovered the value of proper planning and class

preparation. I am in awe of the new information that I have learnt. I am somewhat saddened

when I reflect on my students prior to this programme. I believe that they would have not

received the best of me. However, the future seems bright, in that I am eagerly awaiting new

charges to ‘practice’ on. I have learnt how to develop unit plans, lesson plans and students’

assessments correctly. My portfolio presents evidence of technology integration, curriculum

integration and I now understand the important roles that these play in making lessons more

meaningful and interesting to students. I leave gratified in the thought that I have gained

competencies in the aforementioned areas. I know now that education is a lifelong process

and learning never ends so I await the next educational challenge to improve my practice and

develop for future service.

My initial philosophy was to become a facilitator in my classroom, as a facilitator I will

be able to guide my students through the subject matter in order to assist them in their own

discoveries. The constructivist theory of learning is the one I believe is the most appropriate,

thus I agree with the fact that students have something meaningful to contribute to the

classroom environment, I still hold strong to this philosophy.

My projections as I come to an end of this DipEd journey are based on my efforts to

continue my self-development through achieving continued personal and professional growth

for myself with an aim to assist my students. I intend to further develop my competencies as

an educator through research and enrolling in other professional development programmes.

The knowledge that I have gained in this programme I intend to share it my colleagues and

friends to encourage them to enrol in this programme. I will maintain the friendships gained
in this programme in an attempt to share resources and to learn from their experiences in the

classroom.