Portfolio

In educational leadership at Luther we use a learning portfolio process to help you document your learning about educational leadership, and to provide us with a concrete way to coach you in your learning journey. The primary substance of the portfolio is an engagement with the educational leadership competencies. We ask you to assess, in a structured and specific way in the portfolio, where your experience has given you capacity, and where your  growing edges are. (The portfolio is also our mechanism for waivers

Your final portfolio (a requirement in all EL courses, so start now and build something you can use over and over again) should include at least these five sections. You are invited to add whatever additional materials make sense to you!

The first section is primarily specific to the course. The only thing in this section that needs to be present regardless of the course you are currently taking, is your vision for educational leadership in communities of faith. As your vision shifts and changes over time it’s helpful to include your evolving versions, simply noting the date when a particular version was created.

This section should also include whatever materials you developed that were specific to the course in which the portfolio is being submitted. In EL1515, for instance, this section should include your learning unit essay. Consult your syllabus, or talk with your professor if you’re uncertain about what belongs in this section in any given course.

The second, third and fourth sections of your portfolio should be structured around the three areas of competency (knowledge, attitudes and skills) outlined for educational leadership at Luther Seminary. Here your objective will be to assess where you are in terms of achieving these competencies, and propose ways to meet the rest during the remainder of your degree work. This is a great place to store up examples of your best performances in a given area, things such as specific learning designs you’ve created, papers demonstrating theological prowess, letters of reference from contextual sites, and so on.

The fifth and final section will be devoted to an evaluation of the class you are taking at whatever point you hand in the portfolio. Again, refer to the syllabus of the class or your professor for specific instructions.

Much of the information on portfolios that we use is based on the work of Stephen Brookfield, and his book Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995). You may find Chapter Five, pages 92-113 of his book, particularly useful as you work on your portfolio.

Additional useful resources

Some portfolio examples