The learning portfolio as a tool for stimulating reflection by student teachers

The topic of this study is the portfolio that is being used in a teacher education institute as an instrument for stimulating reflection on their development as teachers by student teachers. This reflection can be seen in the themes student teachers have written in their portfolios. The nature of reflection has been described by means of content analysis. The student teachers in this study mainly used their portfolios for examing what they had done and learned and much less for learning from these experiences. The results show that teacher education institutes must be very clear about what they aim at with reflection. Subsequently portfolio supervision and the use of the portfolio should be much better geared to this. Whether the portfolio is a suitable instrument for using in educating teachers should also be discussed.UBL - phd migration 201

The portfolio as a tool for stimulating reflection by student teachers

This article reports on a research project that studied the nature of reflection in the portfolios of student teachers: 39 learning portfolios were analysed. Current theories on reflection offered little on which to base a system of categories for analysing the content of the portfolios. Theory on learning activities was used. We found that the student teachers tended to focus in their portfolios on their own practice and how to improve it. They examined what they had done and learned, in what aspects they had made progress, and they formulated plans for the future. When looking back on their development as teachers, the students discussed individual experiences which had been important to them, as well as making connections between different experiences over a period of time. The student teachers made less use of the portfolios to gain a better understanding of situations and developments that had occurred. Supervision and guidance on the production of portfolios seemed to be essential to encourage this activity