Writing and the situated construction of teachers’ cognition: portfolios as complex performative spaces

Abstract

With this paper, I aim to contribute to the understanding of the teaching portfolio as a genre. I analyse the linguistic construction and performative nature of the reflective voice in the portfolio of one pre-service teacher. The results reveal her voice to have been constructed upon the convergence of other voices and to perform diverse reflective actions. The portfolio is conceptualised as a complex performative space that is used to construct a complex thought about practice and, accordingly, verbally act upon the development of the teacher's reflective cognition. I finally equate some research questions that are set by this conceptualisation.