A portfolio is a collection of documents and media samples ("evidence") that show someone's knowledge and ability in a particular area. From the next school year, students studying in vocational education institutions will also have to create a portfolio or digital portfolio about their development and results. The presentation of portfolios at exams will also be of great importance, as the existence of a part of the learning outcomes (mainly knowledge and competencies) will be assessed by the examination boards.
The portfolio is used to present the stages of performance, progress, competencies, the learning-teaching process, and the stages of development. A systematic collection that is created during the learning process, presents, justifies, documents the development of competencies and possession of learning outcomes, helps the learner to judge his / her own performance, development, enables a comprehensive evaluation of the development and effectiveness of professional and personal competencies. With the help of the portfolio, the entire learning process can be documented, it provides an opportunity for continuous assessment, self-assessment and self-reflection. During the evaluation of the portfolio, the learning process and the path leading to the actual result becomes visible and interpretable for the teacher and the student.
The portfolio can develop students' decision-making and self-esteem, self-reflection, metacognition in the teaching-learning process. The processes of learning, assessment and self-assessment are intertwined in the application of the portfolio.
Public presentation of the portfolio to school leaders, classmates, parents, and prospective employers reveals much more about students’ complex competencies than just the grade. The portrait of the students unfolds in a complex way: their learning style, strategy, technique and their developmental directions (Radnóti 2007).
Students need to be “taught” to create a portfolio and self-reflect. It is worth giving aspects and guidelines for creating a portfolio, and self-reflection should be encouraged. The portfolio can include documents, photos, videos, references, work diaries, experience reports, products made by students, work pieces and their photo or written documentation, etc., anything that is an “evidence” of the learning process and student achievement.
“Very colorful, diverse portfolios were born by the end of the school year. While we didn’t have a specific goal to create a development portfolio, flipping through them reveals how much the kids have learned, how much they’ve evolved over the past year. Next year we want to create a portfolio of subjects: writing and spelling with all students, because of planning development. ” (Teacher Mária Fidler and Gabriella Szilágyiné Dorcsi, Nagyatád)
“When I talk to the students about their collected work, they’re most proud of their products that require creativity, but they don’t want to scatter anything. It feels so good to flip through their collection and see how they progress together. ” (Teacher Ferencné Naszádi, Bánréve)
“I think this folder shows me how I can work if I get interesting tasks. It feels good to be able to choose which job really characterizes me. ”
"I have to make it nice because anyone in the folder can see my work."
"It was interesting that we talked about what I'd been doing before."
"It made me feel good to see what I had done differently before."
"I wish I could take it home at the end of the year, and then my Mom would see these things." (I'M LEARNING)