Process and Product

There was once (perhaps still is?) a large corporation whose business slogan was "Progress is our most important Product." Someone in the early days of Friends World jokingly proposed a parody of this for our own slogan: "Process is our most important Product." It may have been a joke to begin with (mostly directed at the seeming tedium of Community Meetings) but it had more than a grain of truth in it from the start, and is a quite serious description of the Friends World attitude toward education. One of the basic beliefs that makes us choose Portfolios as the means of documenting learning (as opposed to other methods like examinations, miracles, or trial by combat) is the belief that the process by which learning takes place is as important as the end result.

This is why we use written evaluations instead of grades. It is also the reason that constant ongoing dialogue with your advisor is important, because he/she is meant to guide and evaluate the means and method of your projects, not just the tangible results (which include the Portfolio).

This orientation towards integration of process with product means that learning is more than intellectual achievement (which is certainly there as well), encompassing growth in practical skills, emotional balance, spiritual and moral integrity, and so on. These are not just some sidelight to the "real learning," but are rather a central part of the whole endeavor, and are a correspondingly important part of the documentation, the Portfolio.

Workshop Discussion Sparks

Process vs. Product as regards:
- research
- art
- performance
- Portfolio as a whole

Inspired and Creative

Find creative ways to connect your finished Portfolio with the Process behind the making of it.
Use photos, art, sound recordings, dialogues, etc.

Rigorous Training

Part of your Learning Plan is a description of "methodology" for each topic-- this is the plan for your process. Try to really spell out how you foresee the learning process for each piece of your Learning Plan, and reevaluate it and revise it as your work progresses.

AAAAAGGGHHHH!

If you're worried about the presentation of process in your Portfolio, you may be trying too hard.... This is not necessarily a blow-by-blow description of every little thing you do, but rather a thorough exploration of HOW (both practically and stylistically) you do it (your goals statement and integrative essay deal with WHY you do it).

See Also

1991 Handbook of Inspiration
Student Handbook
LEARNING PLAN (A.2)
DIALOGUE (D.2)
STYLES OF DOCUMENTATION (D)
HISTORY OF PORTFOLIO (B.1)
EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION/LEARNING CYCLE (C.1)
ADVISING (I.3)
COMMUNITY MEETINGS (J.2)
INTEGRATION (C.5)
(and almost everything else, really)

Contribute to the Portfolio Resource Guide!!!

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