Investigating Advanced Professional Learning of Early Career and Experienced Teachers Through Portfolios as Boundary Objects

• In Event: Portfolio Reflection and Interpretation for Professional Development

Abstract

This study explored aspects of teacher learning through reflections contained in the portfolios of 94 practicing teachers enrolled in an advanced master’s degree program. The goal of the study was to explore how the reflections of early career and experienced teachers contained in program portfolios contribute to teacher educators’ deeper understanding about teachers’ development of reflective capacity and their perceptions of program learning outcomes. Interviews one year post program with a purposive sample of 15 teachers allowed researchers to investigate additional aspects of program sustainability. Results suggest that programs can use the cognitive space provided by portfolio reflection data to study teachers’ learning, consider the impact of professional development on teachers’ thinking and their understanding of program outcomes.

Authors

• Rebecca K. Fox, George Mason University

• Charles Stephen White, George Mason University

• Jie Tian, George Mason University