The use of teaching portfolios to promote excellence and scholarship in nurse education

SummaryAchieving excellence in nurse education and demonstrating scholarship in teaching is a challenge for nurse educators who find themselves torn between maintaining high standards in nurse education and their own need for recognition and promotion in an environment that primarily favours research and publications over excellence in teaching. The use of a teaching portfolio is a way to display excellence in nurse education and to provide a public display of teaching scholarship. While not a new concept in nursing education, it has some originality in its application to practising nurse educators. However, the requirement for and guidelines on the development of a portfolio for nurse educators (other than those undertaking educational training) has been little explored. The aim of this paper is to explore the concept of a teaching portfolio as a vehicle to demonstrate excellence and scholarship among seasoned nurse educators. The process of developing a teaching portfolio at one university setting is outlined, so that other teachers are enlightened to the potential benefits of this activity.