I'm so glad that you brought the issue of portfolio assessment in art. Of
course, artists (and everybody else) can use a sample of their work for
reflection. But it is a private matter. I know many artists (both friends
and famous once) who make efforts never to see their own work once is being
done. They often say that they don't want to see their past work because
they think that their past work interferes with future work (they also may
not want to see their mistakes to avoid undermining their self-confidence).
This is another private choice. I'm not so sure that as you say "the act of
creating a portfolio ...is a practice of self-reflection and
self-evaluation." It can be but only as a private choice. In modern formal
education, portfolio assessment is an institutionalized practice and not a
private choice.
I wonder how, when, and where the practice of artistic portfolio has been
developed and whether and how market (e.g., art galleries) contributed to
this development. Teaching art through master's apprenticeship does not
require student's portfolio, does it?
What do you think?
Eugene
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Julia Mame Matuga [mailto:jmatuga@indiana.edu]
> Sent: Friday, February 26, 1999 11:30 AM
> To: xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu
> Subject: Portfolio Assessment
>
>
> Thought I would throw this into the mix with Eugene, Nate, & Bill:
>
> As an artist, former art teacher, and ed. psych. instructor, I have
> utilized portfolio assessment (as my primary method for evaluation) for
> self AND student evaluation. Portfolio assessment,(from my own experience
> and understanding) is asking the "owner" of the portfolio to reflect upon
> their initial goals for the activity, the activity itself, and the final
> product(s) of that activity. In the arts, there are
> perimeters/constraints
> for artistic activity. It's my understanding that perimeters and
> constraints during activity may be(are?) determined by the teacher (by
> inviting students to participate in an activity), the student,
> co-constructed or negotiated by teacher and student, by the media
> or tool used for the activity, and the social resources available for
> that activity within the context. But in the arts (and perhaps other areas
> as well) the goals of activity are, for the most part, individually
> constructed....a student has an idea, a plan, a thought regarding the
> product of their artistic activity. I see portfolio assessment as an
> opportunity for students to reflect upon the goal-activity-product process
> and how well I, as a teacher, supported/hindered that process (by
> hindering goals or not providing the social resources needed during the
> activity, etc.).
>
> I usually ask students to include pieces/activities that they felt helped
> them learn most and pieces/activities did not help them learn at all
> or were least helpful. I believe that this activity, in itself, is a
> valuable one for students self-reflection and self-evaluation AND
> help me identify my own strengths/weaknesses as a co-constructor
> of those activities. While I agree with points that Bill, Nate, and Eugene
> made regarding portfolio assessment, I feel that the act of creating a
> portfolio does not grow out of practice, nor does it follow practice but
> it is a practice of self-reflection and self-evaluation.
>
> -Julia
>
> Julia M. Matuga
> Dept. of Counseling and Educational Psychology
> School of Education, 4021B
> Indiana University, Bloomington
>
>
> "The theoretician's prayer: 'Dear Lord, forgive me the sin
> of arrogance, and Lord, by arrogance I mean the following...."
>
> --Leon Lederman
>