Dear Educator,

Building your portfolio is a good way to take charge of your personal development and develop your career profile.

It must start with self reflection and consciously reviewing your career profile. What are your goals as a education professional? What do you want to be known for – Subject Specialism, Examiner, Peer Trainer, Curriculum Development, Relationship Management, Leadership Development, EdTech Guru, Entrance Exam Prep? Is part of your plan to transition someday into the SLT or a Head of School role?

Remember that a teacher or team member in support services can also grow into any of these roles and much more.

Be mindful that if you are determined to do so, you will need to think out of the box and engage in other activities beyond your current job description. Also find a way that some of your natural talents can also be utilised within and beyond the classroom.

Examples of such can be to volunteer on committees or for school events, offer to provide training or organise parent workshops, create student enrichment programmes, write articles, volunteer with charities geared towards supporting education, apply for awards and fellowships, attend conferences that provide exposure in your focus area or provide updates on current developments in the sector.

Some of these activities can be executed at your school, other work place settings, within your social groups or religious settings.

These actions help you approach your personal development in a structured way. It also makes it so much easier when you have to put together a bio for an event or apply for a grant or fellowship.

Reminder of key points:

• Look for opportunities to acquire skills and knowledge.
• Utilise the skills acquired and in doing so, you start refining them.
• Document! Write down these actions, targeted activities and key achievements. Also, detail your journey and personal discoveries.

I wish you the very best!

Best Regards,

Yemisi