“Where are the children?” Personal integrity and reflective teaching portfolios

Abstract

This study chronicles a 2-year school wide portfolio initiative in a British elementary school, teacher resistance to the initiative, and factors that contributed to acceptance of the portfolio initiative. Critical components to teacher engagement in this context included teacher ownership of the process and product, a child-centred focus to the portfolio, and opportunity to include belief statements and entries of felt importance. The reflective teaching portfolio is discussed as a cultural tool of mediation and a vehicle for providing programmatic reflection wherein teacher integrity can be demonstrated through alignment of beliefs and teaching practice over time.