More Reflections around PD and Portfolios
One reason I am totally sold out on blogging for purposes of professional development, is that it is incredibly easy to connect with others who are thinking about, and doing, the same things as you are - or are attempting to do.
Their experieinces, ideas, ponderings, failings, are all at my fingertips helping me along on my own journey. Instantly, I have models to follow. Mistakes I was about to make, can now be avoided because someone went on ahead and took the time to honestly reflect on what happened. (The good, the bad, and the ugly.) Most of all though, I now have connections. A community of fellow practitioners. There is no more isolation. There is no more trying to figure things out on your own. We figure things out in community.
Case in point:
jamesmatthew, over at Palimpsest Redux, is also exploring around portfolios as the BC ministry of Education has implemented a mandatory graduation portfolio.
Fascinating stuff:Palimpsest redux » Blogs as a Potential Portfolio Delivery Format…
Using the tools of blogging (internal and external linking, categories, comments), the portfolio would take on a fluid, evolving appearance…isn’t that more representative of who we are as individuals? If we are actively engaged in learning /reflecting/ experiencing the world around us, then we will be fluid organisms, changing and evolving as we learn/reflect/experience more.
The blog-portfolio also provides a great forum for a multi-faceted portfolio.” (jamesmatthew, 2006)
Portfolios of today, in my humble opinion, are not static and therefore lifeless things. They are organic. They grow. The develop. The reinvent along with their owner. They are, to borrow from James, “fluidly evolving.”
Noone remains the same. Experiences shape us. Blogfolios, ePortfolios, and paper based solutions must actively follow this evolution.
Reading James’ entry then led me to the comments, where Ewan McIntosh (Very interesting blog.) explores portfolios and their static vs. evolving nature. He also goes on to make a really fine point:
“I think the realist in me, though, says that most educators and, particularly, examination bodies do not see a portfolio as something that should be changed. We speak of ‘final drafts’, ‘final exams’ or simply ‘finals’. Of course, this is ridiculous. The most ridiculous ‘final exam’ I ever sat was for my Honours year when I sat European Law. Two weeks afterwards, and I knew this was going to happen as I sat the exam, all the Treaty numbers of the EU were changed as part of the Amsterdam Treaty. ‘Final exam’? My eye! But those attitudes haven’t changed at any stage in the education system.”
Ouch. Painfully true. In today’s world, most everything that comes out as a “final version” is outdated the next day. Change or die.
Follow the comments to Ewan McIntosh’s site. The conversation is very interesting. Should portfolios demonstrate a “finished product” or specimens of ongoing growth?
Your closing question is rather philosophical. I don’t think that there are any “shoulds” when it comes to portfolios, except when portfolios are required by institutions for recieving degrees, promotions, tenure etc. For most of us, the portfolio is an exercise in self-reflection. In a survey I conducted, I found that while most respondents (TEFLers) were keeping portfolios in some manner, none of them were asked to submit them as part of a hiring process and most of them were not required to keep one by their current employer. Without any external influence, the portfolio can and will be whatever the individual thinks serves his purpose for maintaining it.
Don’t you think?
Comment by daniel — January 29, 2006 @ 10:56 pm