Processen : Portfoliometodikens styrkor och utmaningar på Estetiska programmet Bild och formgivning

Sammanfattning

This study examines how students and teachers in the Aesthetics Program for Art in Swedish upper secondary school experience portfolio-based assessment and learning and if and, in that case, how it could be developed. Through a review of previous research, interviews with three teachers and eight students, the application of sociocultural and post-structuralist theory and school improvement research the aim is to break down the portfolio into its fundamental parts and analyse it to find whether it fulfils its potential. By combining sociocultural theory, post-structuralist theory and school improvement research enables a nuanced understanding of how the interviewees relate to and use portfolio-based assessment and learning. The results of the study show that the portfolio is an important and useful tool in assessment for both students and teachers but not one without flaws. Students and teachers alike point towards gains to be found by providing the students with a greater understanding of the aim of the portfolio and clear instructions for their work and what the teachers expect from the students. The findings of the study highlight how making the portfolio into a design object that communicates towards different fields beyond the school could induce motivation and enable students to try different identities as image makers as well as lessen the workload experienced by teachers in their assessment.