Transitioning from Pedagogy to Andragogy: How to Build an Instructional Design Portfolio that Stands Out

If you are a teacher who wants to transition from teaching children to teaching adults, you might face some challenges in finding a job in the field of instructional design. One of the most important steps to land your dream job is to create a portfolio that showcases your skills and projects as an instructional designer. A portfolio is a collection of work samples that demonstrate your abilities and achievements in designing and delivering effective learning experiences.

Leverage Your Skills and Experiences

Childhood educators have more in common with adult educators than they realize. Here are ten skills that are important to teaching both children and adults:

1. Communication: The ability to communicate effectively is essential in both pedagogy and andragogy.
2. Flexibility: Teachers must be flexible in their approach to teaching, as different learners have different needs.
3. Creativity: Creativity is important in both pedagogy and andragogy, as it helps teachers engage learners and make learning more enjoyable.
4. Patience: Patience is a key skill for teachers in both pedagogy and andragogy.
5. Empathy: Empathy is essential in both pedagogy and andragogy, as it helps teachers understand the needs of their students1.
6. Active Listening: Teachers must be able to listen actively to their students in both pedagogy and andragogy.
7. Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is important in both pedagogy and andragogy, as it helps learners develop problem-solving skills.
8. Collaboration: Collaboration is important in both pedagogy and andragogy, as it helps learners develop social skills.
9. Adaptability: Teachers must be adaptable in their approach to teaching, as different learners have different learning styles.
10. Motivation: Teachers must be able to motivate their students in both pedagogy and andragogy, as motivation is key to successful learning.

All these skills and experiences can be ported from pedagogy to andragogy. The “trick”, however, is to convince employers and adult learners that your skills make you a better adult instructional designer. And it’s all about framing those skills in a proper context!

Showcasing Yourself as Transition-ready

But how do you create a portfolio that stands out from the crowd? How do you include samples of your work when you have mostly taught children and not adults? In the rest of this blog post, we will share some tips and examples on how to build an instructional design portfolio that highlights your strengths and showcases your potential as an adult educator.

1. Start with a clear goal and audience: Before you start creating your portfolio, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it and who you want to impress with it. What kind of instructional design job are you looking for? What kind of skills and competencies does that role require? Who are the hiring managers or recruiters who will review your portfolio? What are their expectations and preferences? Having a clear goal and audience will help you tailor your portfolio to suit their needs and interests.

• Choose a platform and format: Next, you need to decide how and where you will present your portfolio. There are many options available, such as online platforms, websites, blogs, e-portfolios, PDFs, slideshows, and videos. Choose a platform and format that best suits your style, skills, and budget. Make sure that your portfolio is easy to access, navigate, and view on different devices. Also, make sure that your portfolio is visually appealing, professional, and consistent in its design and layout.

• Select and organize your work samples: Now comes the most challenging part – selecting and organizing your work samples. You want to include samples that showcase your skills and competencies in instructional design, such as needs analysis, learning objectives, content development, instructional strategies, assessment methods, and evaluation techniques. You also want to include samples that demonstrate your creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills in designing and delivering engaging and effective learning experiences.

But what if you have mostly taught children and not adults? How do you include samples that are relevant for adult education? Here are some suggestions:

1. Adapt your existing samples for adult learners: If you have samples of learning materials or activities that you have created or used for teaching children, you can try to adapt them for adult learners by changing the content, context, language, tone, level of difficulty, etc. For example, if you have a lesson plan on fractions for elementary students, you can adapt it for adult learners by using real-life scenarios, such as budgeting or cooking, that involve fractions.

• Create new samples based on hypothetical scenarios or projects: If you don’t have enough samples of learning materials or activities that are suitable for adult learners, you can create new ones based on hypothetical scenarios or projects that are relevant to the instructional design job that you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a job as an instructional designer for a corporate training company, you can create a sample of a training module on a topic that is related to the company’s industry or niche.

• Include samples of other types of work that demonstrate your skills and competencies in instructional design: Besides learning materials or activities, you can also include samples of other types of work that demonstrate your skills and competencies in instructional design, such as needs assessments, learning objectives, course outlines, storyboards, scripts, feedback forms, evaluation reports, etc. These types of work can show your ability to plan, design, develop, implement, and evaluate learning experiences for adult learners.

• Provide context and reflection for each work sample: Finally, for each work sample that you include in your portfolio, you need to provide some context and reflection that explain the purpose, process, and outcome of the work sample. You need to answer questions such as:

• What was the goal or objective of the work sample?
• Who was the target audience or learner group for the work sample?
• What was the context or situation for the work sample?
• What were the challenges or constraints that you faced while creating or using the work sample?
• How did you overcome those challenges or constraints?
• What were the results or outcomes of the work sample?
• How did you measure the effectiveness or impact of the work sample?
• What did you learn from creating or using the work sample?
• How would you improve or modify the work sample if you had another chance?

Providing context and reflection for each work sample will help you showcase your thinking process and learning journey as an instructional designer. It will also help you highlight your strengths and areas of improvement as an adult educator.

Same…But Not Too Different!

The world of andragogy is different, compared to the environments and experiences you’ve faced in the world of pedagogy.  But here’s the good news: The two worlds aren’t radically dissimilar, so your teaching portfolio may easily transition and adapt from one world to the other.

By following these tips and examples, you can build an instructional design portfolio that stands out from the crowd and showcases your skills and projects as an adult educator. Remember, your portfolio is not a static document, but a dynamic and evolving one. You should update and refine your portfolio regularly as you gain more experience and learn new skills in instructional design. Your portfolio is your best tool to showcase your potential and passion as an instructional designer for adult learners. Good luck!

If you decide to explore Instructional Design for ELearning a bit further, sign up for my Instructional Design Mastery program today and get a step closer to a new and rewarding career.