Student-Led Conferences: Using Portfolios to Share Learning with Parents

Sheree Haughian is an elementary-school teacher-librarian in
Orangeville, Ontario.

Which scenario seems better? (1) The parents and teacher nod stiffly
over a child’s report card, the child banished to the hall or at home
playing video games. (2) The parents are engaged in dialogue with their
child, who has just revealed a portfolio of work and a comprehensive
list of academic goals.

Given the limited choice, most people would probably applaud the second
situation. It reveals the student as education’s ideal, the
self-directed problem-solver, the kind of citizen destined to succeed in
the next century. Certainly the three educators who put together this
book have not neglected any structural details involved in setting up
the student-led conference system. Frameworks for conference reflections
and student growth plans are included for the borrowing. All the
planning is admirable; it seems mean-spirited to equate this preparation
with those classrooms where teachers spend a fortune in time designing
activities—and then stand back to get out of the way of student
learning.

Only a very sceptical person would suppose that serious academic or
behavioral issues might pass unnoticed if student-led reporting became
the norm. However, it is quite possible and fitting that a parent,
having completed the whole process, might turn to the well-distanced
teacher for a professional perspective. “How’s my child doing
anyway?”

Three-way conferences, with all the key players actively participating,
are surely a more sensible approach to reporting progress and
establishing goals. A 10-year-old’s self-assessment, valuable exercise
that it might be, cannot be the main word on school achievement.