Hello again, and welcome to Alex's Education Blog, where we continue to look at new innovations and ideas for 21st century education! This post will look into the world of "Student Profiles" and their significance in the classroom. As a future educator, I believe it is crucial to connect with your students, because education should not be a top-down style of distributing knowledge, but rather a shared process of information and growth from both students and educators. Through a look into the world of student profiles, we will be able to build towards better educational experiences that allows for a greater connection between students and their teachers!
This idea of a student profile may seem very new and unusual to many who have not experienced it before. Throughout my educational experience, until attending Brock University, I had not ever created, or even heard of the idea of a student profile. My Brock University profile however is very different from the one I am going to describe so I will not use it as a comparative basis. The idea of the student profile however, is not overly complex, but is a very powerful tool to help build a stronger relationship and understanding between students and teachers in the classroom. Most people in the education system, including myself, have experienced being in a classroom with over 30 students, and in schools with sometimes over 1000 students, so it easy to see how it can at times be tough for teachers to build connections with their students, and furthermore, truly understand the individual needs of each student. Using Spearman rho correlation coefficient, Yetunde Ijaiya discovers, a weak positive correlation was found between the opinion of teachers and students on the most serious effects of over-crowded classroom (Ijaiya). A student learner profile can help this process, as teachers can refer to the profile of a specific student to help further understand their needs, and connect with them.
Now you may be wondering, what is the criteria for a student profile. As each student is unique, their profiles can outline what makes them unique, and important things for the teacher to know. Some of the criteria can include: their interests/hobbies, their favourite subjects, the type of learner they are, favourite movies or books, personal information about them like their birthday, and anything else they would like to include about their personal self, or educational information. The profile however, can also include educational information about what subjects they have difficulties in, goals they would like to set and achieve, and what skills they would like to improve and develop. These pieces of information are all important as they not only help teachers learn about their students more in depth, but helps provide them with areas that they specifically need more help in and would like to develop. For more information on building a successful Learner Profile you may want to check out Developing Learner Profiles, created by the Alberta Government.
In the Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment textbook, a student profile is described as a "living document that travels with a student through his or her school career and is updated frequently" (Drake, Reid, Kolohon). This concept is crucial for the profile to be a successful educational component. The profile should be developed for and by a student at the beginning of their educational journey, and be constantly accessible for revision and updates. By doing this, students can track their process and build upon skills that at one point was a challenge, but through constant progress may no longer be an issue. It also allows teachers to know their changing hobbies or interest as they grow as students and ultimately as people.
The Student Learner Profile is an excellent 21st century education tool that can be used to help build a stronger connection amongst teachers and students, and allow students, parents and teachers to track progress of their students and understand their educational and personal interests, strengths and weaknesses. Educational consultant John McCarthy states that, we can start using learning profiles when we know the various ways that each of our students makes sense of content. The more we understand our students, the more efficient we can ensure their learning successes (McCarthy). For more information on John McCarthy you can click here to check out his education blog! I will once again leave you with this example video from Epiphany Learning, and how they help many students and teachers build profiles to help better their educational experiences!
Cheers for now,
Alex Graham
