Completing your portfolio
Content
Your portfolio should demonstrate the ways in which you meet the relevant criteria. The portfolio includes the Portfolio Form and a supporting body of evidence. For the purposes of this process, a portfolio is defined as a collection and/or collation of information (evidence) with analysis that explicitly demonstrates practice that meets or exceeds the ACET professional criteria.
The portfolio should draw on a rich, broad curriculum context (the New Zealand Curriculum or Te Marautanga o Aotearoa), for example across learning areas and key competencies.
It must be sufficiently explicit and coherent that the panel of independent experts can navigate the material and draw the same conclusions as those expressed by you.
The sections of the form have been ordered to best assist the panel in evaluating your portfolio. It is likely that you will first complete Sections B to E. These sections can then be summarised in Section A to reinforce evidence that looks at all quadrants, with references to Sections B to E.
The word limits set for each section are to ensure that the portfolio can be evaluated effectively. Each portfolio (commentary and supporting body of evidence) must be able to be read and/or viewed in no more than 60 minutes.
Portfolio Form
The Portfolio Form consists of:
- Key personal details to enable TeachNZ to confirm you in its systems (the TeachNZ ID you were sent in the email inviting you to submit a portfolio is required)
- Sections B to E, which address the four quadrants and ACET criteria 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d (see diagram on page 5) and have a limit of 500 words each
- Section A: ‘Overall impact on student learning outcomes’, which has a limit of 1,000 words.
Professional tools
You are encouraged to make use of the professional tools noted below in preparing your portfolio:
Effective Pedagogy: Teaching as Inquiry (New Zealand Curriculum or Te Marautanga o Aotearoa)
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum
Best Evidence Synthesis findings (BES A3) and exemplars https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/topics/bes/resources/bes-exemplars
Inquiry and Knowledge Building Cycle
https://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/managing-professional-learning-and-development-in-primary-schools/
(See Appendix 2: Principles of professional learning and development)
Best Evidence Synthesis and cases
BES (Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis) | Education Counts
Learning Outcomes Quadrant
https://www.teachnz.govt.nz//assets/Uploads/ACET/Learnings-Outcome-Quadrant.pdf
Portfolio presentation
To allow for more than one panellist to evaluate a portfolio, documents will be scanned and saved along with any digital evidence for online evaluation.
The portfolio should be well structured and in clear sections.
The portfolio may be provided digitally or in hard copy. Digital evidence must be supplied on a memory stick or similar device. This is to ensure that the evaluation panel is able to open and access the evidence supplied. The device should be labelled with your name and TeachNZ ID.
The following formats will be accepted:
- PowerPoint or other programme slide presentation
- video: AVI, MP4 or MPG
- audio: MP3
- images: PNG or JPEG.
Digital copies are preferred however hard copies are also acceptable. Hard-copy evidence must be collated with your Portfolio Form and printed on A4 paper. It is strongly recommended that teachers take copies of both digital and hard copy portfolios.
Submitting evidence - requirements
- Evidence must be current (within the past three years) and should include planning through to outcomes.
- Evidence should follow the inquiry cycle that is central to the New Zealand Curriculum or Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.
- Data explicitly showing positive outcomes (social, cultural and academic) for all learners is required, with specific information about meeting the needs of priority learners.
- Data showing learner outcomes should show progress over time.
- Submit any piece of evidence only once and consider the section in which it best fits.
- Ensure that references are dated and signed and other correspondence is presented in original form.
- Provide explanations for, and links to, criteria for photos, videos and other pictorial data.
- Reference readings or articles that indicate the impacts they had on their practice, but don’t include copies of the readings or articles.
- If you are resubmitting a portfolio, please ensure that all sections are included, even those that have previously met the criteria, and that evidence is current, i.e. no more than three years old.
Terms of the allowance
If a teacher receives recognition as an ACET, the terms of the allowance are agreed to in signing the Portfolio Form.
To remain eligible to continue in the ACET recognition process, you must have no more than one permanent unit and a classroom teaching load of at least 0.8 Full Time Teaching Equivalent (FTTE).
Any changes to contact details or employment information that affect your eligibility for ACET recognition must be immediately advised to TeachNZ.