Methodologies of Mediation in Professional Learning

Abstract

This chapter presents the theoretical groundings of portfolio as documenting experience. A portfolio is a compilation of student/teacher work assembled for the purpose of documenting experience. It is an archive of academic work products which is often used to evaluate professional learning and academic achievements. Portfolios can also be digital collections or presentations that include the same documents and achievements as physical portfolios, but that may also include additional content such as student-created videos, multimedia presentations, spreadsheets, websites, photographs, or other digital artifacts of learning. Portfolios are also used to help students reflect on their own work and academic progress. By closely monitoring learning progress over time using portfolios, both teachers and students can highlight academic strengths, identify learning weaknesses, and recognize accomplishments and growth. The chapter discusses the theoretical groundings of portfolio, with a focus on studies conducted in teacher education on the uses, processes and outcomes of portfolio as a pedagogy for mediating teacher learning. This is followed by concrete examples of mediation tasks through portfolios in teacher education. The last part presents a synthesis of the major themes identified in the literature on the use of portfolio in teacher education. The synthesis is organized around purposes, processes, outcomes and target audience studied and followed by a comprehensive checklist of selected articles, books and handbooks on portfolio organized by decades.