Today, many institutions, researchers and educators are seeking ways to transform education systems within schools or the way learning occurs in and outside of classrooms. Within my own teaching and school context, I hope to focus on certain areas. For example, having students take a more active role in the creation of assessments, in particular self-assessments and peer-assessments, in the form of formative assessments. The questions posed by Eisner (2001) in “What Does It Mean to Say a School is Doing Well?” have sparked my deeper reflection on current practices being used.
Do students participate in the assessment of their own work? If so, how? (Eisner, 2001)
There are several reasons why students should be involved in the assessment of their own work or assessment of their learning. First and foremost is that students can pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in their own learning (Andrade & Valtcheva, 2009) leading to increased self-regulation (Irving 2007). Butler and Winne (1995), define self-regulated learning as “a style of engaging with tasks in which students exercise a suite of powerful skills: setting goals for upgrading knowledge; deliberating about strategies to select those that balance progress toward goals against unwanted costs; and, as steps are taken and the task evolves, monitoring the accumulating effects of their engagement” (p. 245).
The more teachers create opportunities for students to be part of assessing their own work, the more feedback they will receive. Self-assessment can take many forms; however, successful self-assessment is usually generated around a rubric that students can refer to when reflecting on their own work or progress. Teachers can create the rubric or have students collaborate to make the rubric more specific.
In my own teaching, students and I create task-specific clarifications (MYP: from principles into practice, 2008, p. 87) that accompany the prescribed IBMYP rubrics for all formative assessments. By co-creating the task-specific clarifications, it allows students to become more familiar with the generic rubrics while also understanding the expectations for success in a particular criterion. (Black et al. 2003; Mansell et al.)
Another way I promote deeper reflection is through using peer-assessment. This can be done for almost any task assigned in the class. As with the self-assessment, students are primarily responsible for creating the rubrics. When students are involved in peer-assessment, I have found it to be a compelling way for students to not only receive feedback from more than one person, but the process of giving meaningful feedback to peers often leads to students thinking more critically of their own tasks.
Are students encouraged to wonder and to raise questions about what they have studied? (Eisner, 2001)
Although this question has an almost immediate ‘yes’ response by educators , the question that should be raised is ‘how are students encouraged to raise effective questions about what they have studied?
All too often educators will ask “Any questions?” and assume that if no questions are asked that students are confident in their understanding of what was taught.
Creating an inquiry mindset is essential for students to deepen their learning. In order to achieve this, students (and teachers) could explore how to use the Question Formulation Technique by the Right Question Institute (https://rightquestion.org/) which offers free resources and advice. In practice what this looks like in the classroom is having students focus on a provocation (tied to their learning) and then write or ask as many questions as they can. The students then categorise their questions into close and open-ended questions. They are then instructed to change all open questions into closed questions and vice versa.
After that, they are asked to choose three questions, and these are then shared firstly with the entire class. Students engage in discussions, and any unanswered questions are submitted to the teacher anonymously.
A further approach that can be used to wonder and raise questions is video-recordings or journals shared with either the entire class or if the student prefers only with the teacher. I use electronic journals quite extensively with students, and for video recordings, I use Flipgrid (www.flipgrid.com) that allows settings to have students video recordings completely private or shared with the class.
The added feature of Flipgrid is that it allows for students to respond to each other via recordings.It is also through these recordings and journals that it is quite possible to answer the question:
Are parents helped to understand what their child has accomplished in class? (Eisner, 2001)
Deep reflections on the journey of learning have helped our parents move away from being only focused on grades and understand the trials and tribulations that their child has encountered in the classroom. Parents are guided in conferences to understand that our school’s Confucian based shared values are at the forefront of what we regard as a successful student (compassion, respect, justice, wisdom and honesty).
With these values, our reports also evaluate a student concerning the IBDP Learner Profile (“Learner profile for IB students | International Baccalaureate® – International Baccalaureate®,” n.d.) and the IBMYP Approaches to Learning. (Approaches to learning (ATL) across the IB continuum, 4 n.d.).
Parents are coming to understand that by teachers placing emphasis on these values, profiles and attitudes towards learning they can have a better holistic view of their child’s development as individual and learner, regardless of grades achieved in individual subjects. Regular student-led conferences are also held where students share with parents their artefacts that they found most challenging and then engage their parents in conversations of how they approached the particular challenge and how they overcame it or how they plan to overcome it.
Having students be more aware of their own learning through self and peer assessment will allow them to maximise their learning experiences in the classroom. To help students evaluate their learning, teachers can assist by creating more opportunities for students to take an active role in the creation or co-creation of rubrics that can be used during and after learning. Educators can also help students think of the type of questions they need to ask through the use of the Question Formulation Technique and use these questions to guide students and more importantly to inform a teacher’s own instruction.
Together these suggestions have potential to help parents understand not only what their child has accomplished in class with regard to content, but also gain deeper insights to how their child is developing holistically which is connected with a school’s values and the child’s approach to learning.
References
Andrade, H., & Valtcheva, A. (2009). Promoting Learning and Achievement Through Self Assessment. Theory Into Practice, 48(1), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840802577544
Approaches to learning (ATL) across the IB continuum. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://les.psdschools.org/webfm/296
Butler, D. L., & Winne, P. H. (1995). Feedback and self-regulated learning: a theoretical synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 65(3), 245-281.
Eisner, E. (2001). What Does It Mean to Say a School Is Doing Well?: Discovery Service for Kent State University Libraries. The Phi Delta Kappan,(Vol 82)
Learner profile for IB students | International Baccalaureate® – International Baccalaureate®. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ibo.org/benefits/learner-profile/
MYP: From principles into practice. (2008). Cardiff, Wales: International Baccalaureate Organization.