Mentorship Portfolio in Education Practice - Essay Example

There have been numerous innovations in educational theory and practice, in the last decade, keeping in view the emerging needs. Education is no longer the traditional teacher-centered process but is not inclined towards being student-centered. Likewise, there has been a major shift in the assessment criteria as it has moved significantly from knowledge assessment towards a more competency and performance-based assessment.
The portfolio is not only used as evidence but also as an effective learning tool. This pattern of learning is an approach rooted and based on the principles of experiential learning which is a cyclical process of recording, reviewing, and ultimately learning from events.
In compliance with the guidelines for the completion of the portfolio, we consider a few key assumptions for the purpose of this document. The attempt will be to integrate theory and practice to ensure the portfolio of learning will establish how the learning outcomes are achieved by this exercise of portfolio document.

While we are aware that the concept of Portfolios is not new, it is important to acknowledge the fact that their use in initial and continuing professional development in medicine is still in its infancy and premature stage. In this context, the attempt here has been to achieve the following aims and objectives:
1. At the very outset the idea is to give the background and an educational rationale for portfolio-based learning and assessment in medical education
2. The next step is to examine how and where portfolios have been used for professional development both within and beyond medicine;
3. Next, the aim is to highlight issues that will need to be addressed by those wishing to implement portfolio-based learning, and suggest ways of dealing with them.
There is no focused attempt to address the particular constraints or resource issues that face practitioners in any educational initiative, as these are far too many and too complex for a document of this type and nature keeping in view the existing limitations.