Early childhood teachers’ portfolio practices and predictors / Prácticas y predictores del uso de portafolios por parte del profesorado de Educación Infantil

Abstract

Portfolio is one of the common forms of pedagogical documentation around the world. The current study explores early childhood teachers’ portfolio practices and related predictors using quantitative methodologies. Data were collected from 605 early childhood teachers through developed scales, while descriptive statistics, MANOVA and hierarchical multiple regression were utilized for data analysis. As a result, it was revealed that intention and self-efficacy beliefs were significant predictors of teachers’ portfolio practices, whereas teachers’ portfolio practices did not change significantly with respect to their teaching experience. Furthermore, teachers using portfolio assessment had high scores in internal constructs (i.e., attitudes, beliefs) compared to those who did not use portfolios. Therefore, it was concluded that internal factors play a significant role in teachers’ effectiveness with the use of portfolio assessment.