Professionalism, portfolios and the development of school leaders

This study describes how two reform approaches-the portfolio culture and teacher professionalism-converge in the context of a system-wide programme for the professional development of school leaders. In particular, the study reports on the use of the portfolio to assist principals, deputy principals and heads of subject departments improve their performance and account for their actions. The study found that participants used their portfolios for a range of purposes: as evidence of improvement; as an organiser; as a record of achievement; as a collection of work samples. Leaders' difficulty in adopting the portfolio for professional accountability arose from a number of tensions: between theory and practice; between public and private demands of portfolios; between the practical nature of leaders' work and the reflective nature of the portfolio; between the portfolio as product and as process; between choice and compliance. It is argued that the use of the portfolio as an accountability vehicle will depend on leaders' capacity to balance these competing demands. The study shows that, despite cultural and logistical problems, the portfolio has the potential to develop the professional knowledge and practice of school leaders.