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This is such a rich contribution Pip - thanks so much. I am aware of a practice known as "storyboarding" which Susan Weil uses, where in rather than writing, participants are asked to draw images of specific turning points, which then become images for critical reflexivity. Portfolios are then complementary with mapping, storyboarding and reflective notes as well as audio recordings of dialogues and more formal reporting. The visual impact of such work might cut across the lack of reflexivity in the negative responses to the students' musings. In our inquiry we found that reflection is irreversible - once it comes into practice, ethical awareness and developing capability is concomitant with reflective practice development. Ethics are good starting points for standards of judgement... Reflective of Reason and Bradbury's "choice points" 2001 (HANDBOOK OF Action Research, final chapter, P 454). Je kan, I can copy these points out if you want me to. Thanks to you Je Kan for hugging those trees, and I hope that my invitation to Brian and Peter, who are curiously quiet, is warmly received and usefully considered. On 25/10/06 10:09 AM, "Pip/Bruce Ferguson" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi all > > Warm greetings especially to Susie and Je Kan through recent conversations, > but to you all. > > This email is a response to Je Kan's request about the assessment of > portfolios: "I am completely stumped as to how to teach other teachers to > use and assess portfolios. and contest the critical allegations that they > are scrap books filled with the musings of children who ramble in their > reflections with unfocused emotionalism.. I find a solution even more > stressful when you have different cultural ideas as the what is or is not > knowledge." > > When I was involved in staff development at a polytechnic, I taught a course > called "Reflective Practitioner", a one-week course as part of a 12-week > (spread over 3 years) programme, happening while busy staff were still > teaching. It encouraged them to use journals as a form of systematic, > critical reflection, and this approach might be of help to you in the > portfolio assessment also, Je Kan. One of my students, a nurse-educator, > put in her journal: "It is reflection that is able to change experience > into learning and intelligent action" (Moana Shortland, 2000) which I > thought was a wonderful quote. Below, I have copied in a HERDSA Gold Guide > reference (located from www.herdsa.org.au, publications) which we found > useful as it provides some examples of how assessment of what can be quite > subjective reflections, occurs. You might also be interested in the writing > of Peter November, a Commerce lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, > who has used journals extensively and written about the method critically, > for a number of years. E.G. "Journals for the Journey Into Deep Learning: A > Framework" in HERD, Vol 15, No. 1, 1996, pp.115 - 128. He's a very > interesting guy and well worth contacting - try [log in to unmask] or some > combination around that, or visit Victoria University's website if you want > to get in touch. > > HERDSA Gold Guide: > Making Connections: Using Student Journals as a Teaching/Learning Aid > Roy Ballantyne and Jan Packer > This Gold Guide defines the student journal as a learning exercise in which > students express in writing their understandings of, reflections on, > responses to or analysis of an event, experience or concept. It is seen as a > teaching device which assists students to formulate, clarify, evaluate and > reframe their thoughts, feelings and actions in the light of their own > experience and the information encountered in their study. The guide has > information and ideas to enable staff to evaluate, adapt, create and refine > journal writing techniques for their own purposes. It discusses the > benefits, dangers and difficulties involved in the use of journal writing as > a teaching tool, ways of designing journal writing tasks, and forms of > assessment for which they can be used. A wide ranging sample of illustrative > strategies is given. > 53 pages, 1995 > > The other thing that you might find quite novel and VERY useful, as we did > at Waikato Polytechnic, is a theory that was built up in the States by a guy > called William Watson Purkey. It's called Invitational Theory, and was > hugely effective in introducing our wide range of lecturers - both in terms > of different cultural and different discipline groups - to educational > theory that they could quickly grasp, apply and self-critique on. Best to > go to the Invitational website, > http://www.invitationaleducation.net/publications/journal/index.htm > > But the theory uses everyday language to capture quite complex > relationships, such as whether our educational practice is 'intentionally > inviting', 'unintentionally inviting', 'unintentionally disinviting' or > 'intentionally disinviting' (why anyone would practise that last one beats > me, but I guess it happens!) There is also a component to the theory that > asks us to reflect on whether and how we are practising invitational theory > in policies, programmes, through people, places and processes - perhaps > check Purkey's own explanation of the basic tenets of the theory in one > journal, http://www.invitationaleducation.net/publications/journal/v11p5.htm > and whether we are being personally and professionally inviting with > ourselves and others. There is a sound basis to this theory and the online > journals provide great examples of how educators around the world are using > it. We were introduced to it by Dr Patsy Paxton, a South African (now Kiwi) > who taught it to us in an Educational Theory course, and was a living > example of what she taught. I have rarely known a more 'intentionally > inviting' person! She is now the Academic Director at Auckland University > of Technology. > > Anyway, some thoughts there for you, Je Kan and others. They relate, if > interpreted narrowly, to journals but I believe the same principles are > readily extended to portfolio assessment, which was also common at the > polytechnic (especially in the creative arts area, but not exclusively so). > We managed to get permission for people whose preferred means of > communication was verbal rather than written, to do their journals on tape > rather than in books (awfully time consuming to mark, but awesome > nonetheless!) And on the final day's presentation, where people who had > shared their reflective journal on the days the course met then had to > present their final 'my philosophy of teaching' based on their reflections, > we had people who chose to dance their learning; present it by poster and > explanation etc. My enduring memory was of working with a tough-as-guts > building lecturer who thought the whole course was wussy as hell and was > hard work throughout, who on his final day brought in his guitar and > mouthorgan and did a spoof on Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changing" > sending up his resistance to the process, but what he had learned out of it. > It remains a highlight of my teaching career! > Go well, all. > Pip Ferguson