Purpose-built, web-based professional portfolios: Reflective, developmental and showcase

Abstract

This pilot study examined student engagement with a web-based digital professional portfolio through the 3C process of collect-critique-curate. To overcome common problems associated with electronic portfolios, including cost; specificity; lifelong access; and ease of use, the study used Weebly as its portfolio platform. The creation and use of the portfolio was embedded into the first professional studies unit in the second year of an undergraduate initial teacher education degree, and technical seminars ensured that the base portfolio was created. As students reflected on possible sources of evidence to demonstrate achievement of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2011) and crafted their capacity statements to preface their CVs, they began to clarify their present selves and to envisage their possible future selves as graduate teachers. The study tested strategies, based on the notion of self-authorship that assisted the students’ transition from aligning with a personal student identity to demonstrating a burgeoning professional teacher identity.