Portfolio Assessment as Reflective Practice: Documenting Metacognitive Growth in Language Teacher Education

Abstract

Traditional assessment models in higher education often prioritize content recall, failing to measure the complex, adaptive competencies, such as metacognition and cultural competence, essential for future educators and global citizens. This study documents the implementation of process-oriented portfolio assessment within a Language and Cultures teacher education program in Portugal. A two-year sequential explanatory mixed-methods study (2023/2024 to 2024/2025) involved one undergraduate cohort (N = 81) in English Culture and two graduate cohorts (N = 40) in Citizenship and Intercultural Education, totaling approximately 121 students. Descriptive quantitative analysis documented consistent performance patterns across cohorts when using structured, process-oriented rubrics. Qualitative analysis, focusing on reflective writing and critical thinking criteria, demonstrated significant metacognitive development and self-regulated learning, substantiated by student reflections and instructor observations. The findings affirm that portfolios can serve as an effective mechanism for fostering and documenting the process of learning rather than merely measuring its outcomes. The paper argues that integrating reflective portfolio assessment into teacher training curricula offers a pedagogically valuable alternative to traditional grading paradigms in higher education.

Received: 11 November 2025 | Revised: 5 January 2026 | Accepted: 5 February 2026

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares that she has no conflicts of interest to this work. 

Data Availability Statement

The data that support this work are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Author Contribution Statement

Patrícia Ferreira: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition.