PORTFOLIO

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PORTFOLIO

• Irmeli Maunonen-Eskelinen

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DEFINITIONS OF PORTFOLIO

• 1. Portfolio as contents and products
• Means a collection of study performances which
  meaningful and multifaceted manner represent a
  students competences.
• Can be a collection of the best works that a
  student has chosen.
• Can be a collection of organised writings, which
  have been collected according to agreed plan.
• Shows a persons competences and achievements in
  a particular area.

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• 2. Portfolio as a mean, a tool and a method
• Emphasises a students development and learning
• Can promote learning better than many single
  means and strategies
• Describes a students development, aims and
  achievements
• Can be a tool for reflecting and assessing
  competences and learning holistically and widely

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• 3. Portfolio as a process
• Is seen to be more than contents, products, a
  mean, a tool or a method
• Review of learning, growth and development is as
  important than accomplishing the final result.
• Learning and development is inquired with
  relation to past, present and future
• Selecting outputs of ones own work and learning
• A cyclic work process in which materials are
  collected, selected, reflected and assessed
• Has a connection between experiential learning
  and action research (a cyclic process in common)

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AIM OF PORTFOLIO

• the aim and meaning of portfolio is connected
  with the definition of portfolio
• The meaning can be development of teacher
  identity, self-assessment and professionalism,
  collaboration and communication or supporting
  ones own teaching and learning
• The meaning can be more focused on reflection and
  a process of deepening learning than on
  collecting materials
• If the meaning of portfolio is to help a learner
  to raise awarness of his/her learning process,
  the learner should understand portfolio at an
  early stage

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Forms of portfolio

• 1. Basic portfolio
• Working folder in which assignments, project
  works, drafts of certain period of time, course
  or theme are collected
• The emphasis is on the contents
• Often is the basis for other types of portfolios

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• 2. Demonstration portfolio
• Shows a students qualification and competences
• Is useful if a student wants make a portfolio
  about few but significant performances and
  achievements through which she/he wants to
  highlight his/her strengths and special know-how

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• 3. Portfolio of growth and learning
• Aim is to support and promote personal and
  professional growth
• Personal and professional growth mean such a
  dynamic learning process in which knowledge,
  skills, competences and growth as a teacher
  develop through reflection and discussion.
  Well-grounded and conscious way of working is
  connected with this.
• Learners future challenges of learning and
  growth as well as goal-setting can be seen
• Transfers the ownership of learning to the
  learner him/herself

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• 4. Assessment portfolio
• Selected collection of a students works,
  assignments, evaluations
• The aim is to assess a students professional
  development,competences and performance in order
  to gain a certain degree or qualification
• Should form a clear picture about a students
  knowledge, skills and competences

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• Common to all forms of portfolios
• Collecting materials
• Documentation of learning in a way that other
  methods are not capable to do
• Connection to environment and personal areas of
  learning
• Development of metacognitive skills

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Contents and structure

• 1. Contents
• Consists of many kinds of materials writings,
  pictures, videos, stories, poems, sometimes
  concrete products
• Drafts, processing materials could be included
  besides ready-made outcomes
• Describes meaningful and important matters,
  experiences and areas of interest
• Rich poor portfolios

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• 2. Structure
• Refers to the underlying aims of learning
• Both physical and conceptual structure are in
  evidence in every portfolio
• A) Physical structure
• refers to organising the material
• Can be organised according to time, topics or
  themes
• B) Conceptual structure
• Refers to underlying purposes, aims and contents

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Phases of constructing portfolio
Selecting materials
Reflecting on materials
Collecting materials
Organising materials
The form of portfolio
Assessment
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• Collecting and organising portfolio
• Collecting materials can happened during along
  period of time or as a shorter project
• Collected materials should be with logical
  relation to the purpose of portfolio
• Collection process put the learner to face
  his/her own learning, growth and behaviour
• Collecting starts from what the students think
  that is relevant and meningful for them as
  learners
• Students learn to identify their strengths and
  areas to develop, analyse his/her ways of
  learning and appropriateness of them

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• Students become more aware of what they can and
  cannot
• When collecting and selecting materials students
  metacognition develop (the skills that regulate
  and assess learning)
• If the criteria are missing portfolio is easily a
  bunch of papers
• If the collection of materials is the only aim
  the process is superficial and it stops
• Amount of materials? There are enough materials
  if adding more doesnt bring anything new.
• Collecting and organising materials can be
  difficult for learners as well as the aim can be
  unclear

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• Reflecting on materials
• Reflective teacher is one of the most important
  goals of teacher education
• Learning stays on superficial level, without
  contents and deeper understanding if reflective
  analysis doesnt take place
• Collected and selected materials offer students a
  possibility to reflect on growth, learning and
  change throughout a study programme or even a
  career
• Reflection is discussing experienced and happened
  matters on personal level
• Reflection offers a possibility to control and
  understand ones own learning, be responsible on
  it, define learning strategies and see changes in
  ones learning process

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• Portfolio is seen a method that helps a student
  to become reflective and eager to develop his/her
  work
• Reflection process, anyhow, can not be taken for
  granted in portolio working
• Some students have difficulties to reflect their
  learning
• Promoting reflection
• Making students become aware that one of the
  functions of portfolio is to reveal learning and
  growth process to the person him/herself
• Developing independent and conscious way of
  thinking
• Sharing documentation of materials, comparing
  assignments, and learning with others
• Discussing questions what I did, what I learnt,
  what I am going to do next

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• Assessment of portfolio
• Is a dynamic process
• Can reveal learning experiences and complexity of
  learning in a manner what traditional methdos
  have not been able to do
• Is connected with authentic assessment which
  combines learning and assessment and emphasises
  more strengths and challenges than failing
• Is subjective and student-centred
  self-assessment is essential part of assessment
• Individual assessment emphasises process,
  development of critical thinking, shared
  resonsibility and multi-level assessment

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• Aim is to use many qualitative approaches
• Assessment principals
• Attention is paid more on process that outcomes
• Emphasis is on applying knowledge, critical
  thinking and problem solving
• Attention is paid more on developing a students
  strengths that on weaknesses and amount of learnt
  matters
• There is not one right way to assess portfolio
• Discussing portfolio from different viewpoints is
  essential the more views the better!