A Scenario for Portfolio-based Accreditation of Teachers' Competences in Estonian Context

This paper focuses on the process of accreditation of in-service teachers’ competences, which is used in some countries as career advancement option within profession. The accreditation process of senior teachers in Estonia is somewhat different compared with other countries, as the next career rank can be granted to an applicant only if she/he meets a number of formal measurable indicators. The higher career rank is valid just for five years, then it has to be re-applied or else teacher falls back to previous rank and salary level. We argue that current accreditation process does not support teachers’ lifelong learning and knowledge building activities and does not make use of new technology (e.g. e-portfolio). Empirical study was conducted using participatory design method involving in-service teachers. The first iteration of design-based research process resulted with an alternative scenario for competence-based accreditation process involving use of digital portfolio. The paper also provides a conceptual model for learning and knowledge building with eportfolio to support the new scenario of teachers’ accreditation process.