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racing my growth as a practitioner, this portfolio was developed as a tool to help me in the dissection and understanding of my professional practice. Completed in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Adult Education at St. Francis Xavier University, I have taken the time to identify the knowledge, skills and attitudes I bring to my work as both an adult educator and community developer. Defining a practice which I often see as confusing, sporadic and a collection of contributions across sectors, the primary audience for this portfolio is myself in support of forming a better understanding of a personal and professional identity.

This portfolio begins by considering the philosophies I bring to my practice of adult education and community development and how both my personality and approach to learning have informed these philosophies. Presenting my professional practice as a series of strands—Adult Education, Community Leadership and Civic Engagement—I offer explanations regarding each area of focus in terms of the work I have completed, scholarship taken to further my knowledge and the evidence and evaluation of my efforts as identified by others. I close each strand with a reflection on the themes, challenges and opportunities found across my roles.

Following these strands, I provide a Resume where I identify the professional contributions I make related to the areas of my practice. Offering a holistic view of my efforts across all three strands, I close this portfolio with thoughts on the commonalities found within my practice, how work within each strand supports the others, opportunities for growth and areas for attention, and how my practice can evolve to provide greater value to the communities I serve.

Formal in both structure and analysis, the framework for this portfolio is based upon the work of Hughes and Moore (2007) and incorporates the elements necessary to support achieving my goals while ensuring a deeper level of reflection (pp. 21). Where appropriate links have been included to help facilitate efficient navigation between sections and to relevant reference materials, both internal and external. Provided at the end of this portfolio are references, documents, artifacts and materials in support of the statements made throughout.