" This Is My Portfolio": Portfolios in Upper Secondary School English
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 450 415 CS 217 464 AUTHOR Pollari, Pirjo TITLE "This Is My Portfolio": Portfolios in Upper Secondary School English Studies. INSTITUTION Jyvaskyla Univ. (Finland). Inst. for Educational Research. ISBN ISBN-951-39-0854-2 PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 263p.; Book is based on a Licentiate Thesis by Pirjo Pollari, Department of English, University of Jyvaskyla, 1998. AVAILABLE FROM Institute for Educational Research, Customer Services, University of Jyvaskyla, PO Box 35, FIN-40351 Jyvaskyla, Finland. Tel: +358 14 260 3220; Fax: +358 14 260 3241; Web site: http: / /www.jyu.fi.ktl /. PUB TYPE Books (010) Reports Research (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Action Research; Case Studies; *Cultural Context; *English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; High Schools; Instructional Innovation; *Portfolio Assessment; Program Development; Qualitative Research; *Student Empowerment IDENTIFIERS *Finland; Student Engagement; Writing Contexts ABSTRACT This qualitative case study describes a portfolio program in the teaching of English as a foreign language in two Finnish upper secondary schools. Approximately 100 students participated in the portfolio program, whose topic area was culture. First, the purpose of this action research was to try out and develop portfolios in foreign language teaching as a pedagogical innovation. Second, the aim was to foster students' empowerment, i.e., their active and responsible role in learning. The primary research questions were twofold: How did the portfolio program proceed and progress? and Did the portfolio program foster student empowerment? Different portfolio profiles and portraits emerged from the data collected. Findings suggest that a great majority of the students both liked the portfolio approach and took charge of their learning. Thus, the portfolios seemed to offer a vehicle for student empowerment. Some students, however, disliked the portfolio course, finding the topic area uninspiring and the student-centered and self-directed approach inefficient, difficult, or unsuitable for them.(Contains 6 figures, 2 tables, an approximately 250-item bibliography, and several appendixes.) (Author/NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. P I RJ 0 POLL AR I id idmypoi/410110ff Portfolios in upper secondary school English studies s., EANUTS ,165 18a9- hap 1T43 /, AN/ ey. am A.. ow, O... GAGO MG. - " 44 _, COI D foto -.---0, A St11111 r» 914WW11 ,43 ''' U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research end Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY R. R-i-Vetneo INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF JYVASKYLA TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 2 1 "THIS IS MY PORTFOLIO" PORTFOLIOS IN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH STUDIES 0 "THIS IS MY PORTFOLIO" PORTFOLIOS IN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH STUDIES Pirjo Pollari INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF JYVASKYLA 4 Advisory Board of the Publication Series of the Institute for Educational Research Jouni Valijarvi Pirjo Linnaky15 Viking Brunell Paivi Hakkinen P5ivi Tynjala Jouni Sojakka THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE OBTAINED FROM: Institute for Educational Research Customer services University of Jyvaskyla P.O. Box 35 FIN-40351 Jyvaskyla, Finland Phone +358 14 260 3220 Fax +358 14 260 3241 E-mail: [email protected] www: http: / /www.jyu.fi/ktl/ The book is based on a Licentiate Thesis by Pirjo Pollari, Department of English, University of Jyvaskyla1998 © Pirjo Pollari and Institute for Educational Research Cover: Martti Minkkinen Layout: Martti Minkkinen and Kaija Mannstrom Photos: Pirjo Pollari ISBN951-39-0854-2 Printed by University Printing House and ER-paino Ky (covers) Jyvaskyla2000 Contents ABSTRACT 5 TI IVISTELMA 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9 PROLOGUE 11 PART I: THE THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Chapter' PORTFOLIOS AS A TOOL FOR LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT 17 What is a portfolio? 17 Portfolios and their functions 19 Portfolios and modern concepts of learning 22 Portfolios as an assessment tool 27 The portfolio process in the classroom 35 Portfolios in various subjects and at different school levels 39 Portfolios in foreign language education 41 Chapter 2 EMPOWERMENT 51 Empowerment in social and political sciences and women's studies 52 Empowerment in education 57 Empowerment as defined in the present study 68 Chapter 3 THE METHODOLOGY OF THE PRESENT STUDY 79 The present study as a qualitative case study 79 The participants 82 My role in the portfolio programme 84 rContents The action research process 85 The research questions 89 PART II: THE PORTFOLIO PROGRAMME Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 93 Chapter 2 THE CULTURE COURSE AS THE CONTEXT FOR THE PORTFOLIO PROGRAMME 95 Some definitions of culture in second or foreign language education 97 Culture as defined in the Framework curriculum for the senior secondary school 98 Culture as defined for the portfolio programme 100 Chapter 3 THE PORTFOLIO PROCESS 103 The beginning of the course: discussing the goals, requirements and criteria 103 The production of portfolios: learner-centred and self-directed work 106 A wide range of personal pieces of work 122 The showcase portfolios 128 Portfolio celebrations at the end of the course 133 Portfolios as the assessment tool for the course 134 Chapter 4 THE EVALUATION OF THE PORTFOLIO PROCESS 139 Some problems of the portfolio process revisited 139 Students' reflections on the portfolio approach and its effects 148 Chapter 5 SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION OF THE PORTFOLIO PROGRAMME 159 2 7 Contents PART III: PORTFOLIO PROFILES AND PORTRAITS Chapter 1 PORTFOLIO PROFILES 165 The twofold analysis of the portfolio data 165 The analysis of all the portfolio cases 166 The portfolio cases on the four-field map 173 Portfolio profile groups 176 Chapter 2 PORTFOLIO PORTRAITS 183 The data and data analysis 186 The Greatest Gainers of the portfolio programme 188 Absolutely fabulous - a case of constant flow 198 Great expectations - a case of a perfectionist 204 Misery - a case of constant anxiety 208 Easy Living 213 The Opponents: Portfolio is hell 218 Chapter 3 SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION OF THE PORTFOLIO PROFILES AND PORTRAITS 227 EPILOGUE 235 BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 APPENDICES 261 3 Abstract Pollari, P 2000. "This is my portfolio". Portfolios in upper secondary school English studies. University of Jyvaskyla. Institute for Educational Research. ISBN 951-39. 0854-2 This qualitative case study describes a portfolio programme in the teaching of English as a foreign language in two Finnish upper secondary schools. Ap- proximately 100 students participated in the portfolio programme, whose top- ic area was culture. Firstly, the purpose of this action research was to try out and develop port- folios in foreign language teaching as a pedagogical innovation. Secondly, the aim was to foster students' empowerment, i.e. their active andresponsible role in learning. Thus, the primary research interests were twofold: How did the portfolio programme proceed and progress? Did the portfolio programme foster the students' empowerment? The present report is divided into three parts. Part I presents the theoreti- cal framework, Part II describes and evaluates the process of the portfolio programme and Part III introduces andanalyses different portfolio profiles and portraits emerging from the data. The results were promising. A great majority of the students both liked the portfolio approach and took charge of their learning. Thus, the portfolio seemed to offer a vehicle for students' empowerment. However,there were also some students who disliked the portfolio course. They found the topic area unin- spiring and the student-centred and self-directed approach inefficient, diffi- cult or unsuitable for themselves. Descriptors: portfolio, empowerment, foreign language teaching, qualitative case study 5 9 Tiiviste im. Pollari, P. 2000."Thisis my portfolio".Portfoliosin upper secondary school English studies. Jyvaskylan yliopisto. Koulutuksen tutkimus- laitos. ISBN 951-39-0854-2 Taman opetuskokeilun ja toimintatutkimuksen tavoitteet olivat kahtalaiset. Ensinnakin tavoitteena oli seka kokeilla etta kehittaa portfoliota opiskelu- ja arviointimenetelmana lukion englannin kielen opetuksessa. Opetuskokeilun aikoihin (kevaalla 1994) portfoliot olivat saavuttaneet melko laajaa suosiota varsinkin aidinkielen opetuksessa esim. Yhdysvalloissa, mutta vieraiden kiel- ten opiskelussa portfoliokokeilut olivat viela melkoharvinaisia. Taman tutki- muksen toisena tavoitteena oli, etta oppilaat omaksuisivat aktiivisen, paatos- valtaisen ja vastuullisen roolin opinnoissaan ja myos kokisivat opiskelevansa itseHn varten (ns. student empowerment). Opetuskokeiluun osallistui nelja lukion toisen luokan opetusryhmaa kah- desta jyvaskylalaisesta lukiosta seka heidan englannin opettajansa. Osallistu- neita oppilaita oli noin sata ja opettajia kolme. Portfoliokokeilu toteutettiin ns. kulttuurikurssilla (EA6). Kurssinaikana opiskelu oli suurelta osin oppilas- lahtoista ja itseohjattua: muutamien yhteisten luokkatuntien lisaksi oppilaat tekivat valitsemistaan kulttuuriaiheista nelja tai viisi omaa tyota. Oppilaat paattivat itse myos toidensa toteutustavat samoin kuin oman tyoskentelytyy-