Reflections from Preservice to Novice Teaching: One Perspective on the Role of ePortfolios

Developing ePortfolios as part of preservice coursework and student teaching has become part of many teacher education programs nationwide. This article explores how developing an integrative knowledge ePortfolio (IKE, Peet et al., 2011) as part of one preservice teacher's education and during her early years in the classroom supported the role of reflection in personal pedagogy, offering concrete ways to think through issues specific to student teaching and into the transition to novice teaching. I consider the ways in which sociocultural perspectives on teacher education influence reflection and its development. Although teacher candidates might initially perceive ePortfolio building as a mere showcasing of individual skills and promise to prospective employers, folio reflective processes can quickly be adopted as a critical lens on teachers’ own practice, leading to new understandings and revisions in thinking. Thus, this article argues that, for me, ePortfolios provided a space for reflection as performance, giving me an additional means of inquiring into my classroom and becoming an integral and defining component of a commitment to reflective teaching practices.