Portfolios and the Process of Teacher Education

This paper addresses the issue of substantive redesign of teacher education programs in order to create a curriculum of integrity which would bring together the many threads of preservice experience. Ohio's University of Dayton's teacher education program is outlined in this paper, and several aspects of the program are discussed in detail. The University's program is thematic--one theme for general education and one for teacher education. The program stresses the process of presenting the prerequisite skills and dispositions for professional, reflective decision-making. In this process, the teacher is portrayed as decision-maker rather than decision implementer. Another area of concern for preservice teachers lies in the tension existing in a pluralistic and diverse democracy. The University of Dayton places a high value on the worth and dignity of individuals and since this belief undergirds the education program, students learn to grapple with diversity and pluralism from the perspective of human dignity. Another process element in the Dayton theme is the portfolio, a mechanism used by students to think through the connectedness of ideas. Students engage in activities and construct meaning based upon their own emerging understanding of the personal and professional dimensions of teaching in order to develop schemata and materials consistent with institutional themes. (LL)