Career Portfolios And Their Many Uses
Friday, November 30th, 2007She was the fourth candidate the panel had interviewed today. The traditional opening questions were fired at her: Tell me about yourself? Where are you from, why do you want to work at our school? Could you describe your teaching style for us as well?
Lynn squirmed just a bit and then deftly produced a booklet as she replied with an air of mystery: I consider each child a unique being. Each one is like a blank slate, a blank page. In fact, this booklet would represent my class at the beginning of the school year.
As Lynn continued to thumb the blank pages of her portfolio, she elaborated: After I work with the students on study skills, assist them to master the basic skills of reading, writing and listening, the pages begin to fill. I spend time counseling with students and their families. We work through the rough spots and the low spots until we all can stand tall together.
Lynn closed the book, paused and looked up. Then she thumbed the pages again, this time very slowly, and, as she did, the pages filled with the colorful images of her students as she concluded: At the end of the year, they leave my room full of new ideas, full of a new sense OF Possibilities.
Lynn asked with a smile: Would you like to see any of the samples?
Their jaws dropped, they all nodded enthusiastically, and one of the interview panelists managed to quip, “How did you do that?”
Lynn started performing magic in her classes because her deaf students responded strongly to lessons laced with visual qualities of legerdemain. Lynn gravitated from an amateur, part-time magician to professional, summer-time magician, and she eventually joined the International Brotherhood of Magicians. This story is told to illustrate that every job seeker has some magic to share, and a portfolio may be one of the finest props around for bringing the magic to life.
Today, this portfolio magic is finding its way into every facet of career development. In the last ten years, more and more books and articles have described new formats and new uses for career portfolios. These include enhancing student learning, expanding one’s presentation skills during an interview, and transforming routine employee evaluation checklists and performance reviews into genuine dialogue about shared goals. The emerging power of a career portfolio will be discussed in light of it’s ability to transform recent developments in career portfolios, current experiments, and visions for the future.
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