Carina Granberg

E‐portfolios in teacher education 2002–2009: the social construction of discourse, design and dissemination

This paper reports on a study of the experiences of teacher educators in the introduction and development of e‐portfolios over an eight‐year period from 2002 to 2009 at a Swedish university. The study was conducted with 67 teacher educators in order to investigate how e‐portfolios have been discussed, designed, used and disseminated during this period. Research methods involved 25 narrative interviews and a questionnaire that was completed by 42 participants. The theoretical framework of Basil Bernstein, particularly his concepts of classification, framing, educational codes and pedagogical devices, was used to analyse the data. The paper presents a discussion of the contextual circumstances in relation to classification, framing and codes that affect the social construction of e‐portfolios. The results point to parallel processes resulting in a variety of discourses and designs of e‐portfolios and highlighting the importance of the social construction of e‐portfolios across the teacher education faculty, rather than merely their implementation.

Social software for reflective dialogue: questions about reflection and dialogue in student teachers’ blogs

This article presents a study of 57 Swedish pre‐school student teachers’ experiences and achievements in using blogs for reflective dialogue over the course of 2007–2008. In order to examine the extent to which students engaged in reflective dialogue, text analyses of their blogs were carried out. Furthermore, 13 narrative interviews were conducted to illuminate students’ understanding of reflection, and to establish what circumstances influenced their engagement in reflective dialogue. The framework developed by Kreber and Cranton (2000) was used to analyse the blogs in order to determine the level of reflection, while that of Gorsky and Caspi (2005) was used to illuminate students’ engagement in dialogue. The article presents a discussion of the circumstances in which students engaged in reflective dialogue. Furthermore, it illuminates the relationship between engagement in dialogue and level of reflection. The importance of students’ understanding of reflection, social interaction, and the methods of assessment are highlighted.