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PLACE Workbook
Purpose and Philosophy
 

What is a Portfolio?
 

The Life History Paper
 

The Chronological Record 
 

The Goals Paper
 

The Core of The Portfolio
 

Assembling the Portfolio
 

Sample Cover Letter
 

Evaluation of the Portfolio

 
Life History Paper
There is a great deal of talk these days about "life stages" and "adult life transition." What does it mean? What are the implications for your life? In this course you will probe these new conceptions as they relate to your own growth and maturing. A portfolio is an ideal tool for getting a "fix" on your life, its unique stages and transitions. 

Life stages refer to intervals of time related to the age and growth dimensions of your life. Life stages are inclusive of "life transitions" as well as periods of "life stability." Life stability characterizes intervals in our life of relative tranquility, coherence, and consonance. Life transition, from an educational and personal perspective, is a particularly exciting phase, involving new challenges and new opportunities for growth and learning. 

Transition periods cause us to rethink and reformulate our visions or ourselves in the world, setting forth new pathways, some of which involve considerable risk, leading us to redefine our lives. Periods of life transition may involve reformulation of family (e.g., leaving one's original "nest," adopting a child, marital separation or divorce, children leaving home), work related aspirations or anxiety (e.g., changing jobs, seeking a promotion, termination, leaving house and parent responsibilities for work responsibilities, changed job description, retirement), or changing personal values (e.g., values regarding personal morality, acceptance or rejection of religious beliefs, death and dying, health and well-being, social responsibility). 

In the Portfolio Development course you will explore your own life stages and your own transitions to gain greater insight about yourself, and to refine your ability to "plot" your future. You will begin by looking into your past to discover the rich array of transitory experiences which are embedded in your personal history. You will systematically examine these experiences (people and events, as well as yourself) as a part of exercises you will complete in this course, culminating in the writing of the first section of your portfolio, the Life History section. 

Exercises you will be engaging in.......... 

B. LIFE TRANSITIONS (AS STAGES) 

C. WRITING YOUR LIFE HISTORY 

Click to see a Sample Life History Paper
 
STD 298 Home Page
STD 298 Syllabus
  
Cammy White
   
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Life History Exercises
  1. You will begin by briefly identifying critical periods of transition (strategic life events which offered unusual opportunities for growth and change) in your life.

    2.  
  2. You will then be asked to expand on the quality of each of these unique events as a period of time in your life.

    3.  
  3. Finally, at the completion of the exercises, at the end of this section, you will write your Life History, drawing upon the material you recorded in the following exercises. Begin by considering your life transitions.

    4.  
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LIFE TRANSITIONS (AS STAGES) 
From your list of life transitory events, select one or two which were particularly compelling phases of your life. In this exercise you will differentiate life transition as an event in time with life transition as a stage in your life, involving a sequence of occurrences over an interval of time. For the three or four transitions that you have selected, you will expound on the stage of your life that they represent. 

As you develop each transition period, your goal should be to recreate in your mind all of the dimensions of that period in your life, exploring all of its most important aspects. Place yourself in that life period, reflecting on the tone and quality of your experience, the kind of person you were then, your attitudes toward life, your aspiration for the future, your spiritual orientation, your personal life, as well as your work life. 

Allow yourself to go back to that time and space, represented by your transition stage, reflecting briefly on what you felt. If the transition is home or work related, you will want to reflect on the stages and changes which you passed through. Indicate your social sphere and the quality of your interpersonal interactions. Let your pen move freely across the page reworking whatever comes to mind, without analysis, on the following pages. 

LIFE TRANSITION STAGE #1 

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LIFE TRANSITION STAGE #2 

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LIFE TRANSITION STAGE #3 

____________________________________________ 

LIFE TRANSITION STAGE #4 

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WRITING YOUR LIFE HISTORY 
The completion of the preceding exercises should provide you with a great deal of meaningful raw data from which you might begin to write your Life History. Your goal should be to carefully synthesize your experiences, keeping the finished Life History to four to eight double-spaced, typed pages. Don't hesitate to introduce new material which did not emerge out of the preceding exercises. The exercises are for your use only in formulating the Life History Paper in a thorough and concise manner - they do not become a part of the portfolio and your instructor may not ask to see them.
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