Abstract:

Over the past two decades there have been significant changes in education particularly driven by social, political, economic and ideological influences. These changes are so complex and place many demands on Higher Education Institutions to ensure educational objectives match the educational needs of society. It is a common knowledge that the society expects teachers to have high-level cognitive skills which involve knowing how to think in analytical, critical and reflective ways, how to ask questions, make decisions, solve problems, and know how to learn independently. Therefore, it is not surprising that many education institutions have used portfolio development as a favorite tool to develop students as reflective practitioners.

Portfolios are also linked to graduate capabilities which include reflective practice to help drive learning towards specified outcomes. Reflective practices are important more particularly in the education field because educators bring certain beliefs, assumptions, knowledge, attitudes and values to teaching. Educators are influenced by their social environments which have their own unique characteristics, opportunities and constraints. Therefore, reflective practice requires educators to explore the influence of all these complex factors with the intention of understanding and improving their practice.

There is no doubt that reflective practice is an important skill that needs to be developed by all educators. This study attempts to examine to whether reflective skill development is being enhanced among teacher educators through the compilation or development of teaching portfolios. The motivation to do the study stems from the researchers’ experience when marking the portfolios of students during the teaching practice experience. The researchers found it challenging to get the students reflect in the portfolio at a level necessary for meaning learning. The investigation into the effectiveness of portfolios in developing reflective skills was necessary not only for the university but also for the students.

The investigation was undertaken by means of a case study approach within a qualitative research paradigm, as we wanted to interpret and understand the students’ experiences in a real-life and specific context. A self-selected sample of 20 students’ written portfolios were used in the study in order to gain in-depth insight into their portfolios as a tool to enhance reflective skills during the teaching practice period. Only the 3rd and final year students (4th years) portfolios were used for the purpose of this study. The findings reveal that the use of portfolios during teaching practice does not fully empower students with reflective skills. Recommendations are made on how portfolios can be improved to enhance reflective practices among students.

Keywords:

Teaching portfolio, reflective practices, pre-service educators, teacher training.