How to make learning visible?

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of child’s work that makes learning visible - shows the child's efforts, progress and achievements.

Portfolio must include the child’s participation in selecting content and reflecting on it. Therefore, portfolios have the potential of revealing a lot of their creators – the children: the ways the children think and learn as well as assessment and instruction.

Kindiedays Porfolio Learning

There is no one answer what a portfolio truly is. Portfolios are as varied as the children in early education centres and schools.

Read further to find out the portfolio guidelines by Paulson, Paulson & Meyer.

A portfolio must have:

1. Content that shows the child’s thoughts, ideas and self-reflection.
2. Child's touch. The portfolio is done with the children, not for the children. Portfolio assessment offers children an opportunity to learn to value their own work and themselves as learners.
3. A purpose - at least one of them is universal: Porfolio should show progress on the learning goals that are presented in the curriculum.
4. Information that illustrates growth.

Portfolios offer a great way of assessment. It is quite different method compared to the traditional ones. Portfolio assessment offers opportunities to observe children in a broad context: how are they taking risks, developing creative solutions and learning to make judgements about their own performance.

How do we know children learn?

Shorty, a portfolio is a portfolio when…

• it provides a comprehensive view of child’s performance and progress
• a child is participating in the process of combining a portfolio and assessing it
• when it encourages children to develop their abilities as learners

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Read the original article "What makes a portfolio a portfolio?" by F. R. Paulson, P. R. Paulson & C. A. Meyer from here.