Philosophy of Educational Assessment

The follow paper summarizes my understanding of assessment, all while reflecting my philosophy of education.  After reading the article School isn’t like a job I was inspired to revisit this paper and wanted to share it with my peers, collegues and blog subscribers.

Prior to reading this paper I think it would be beneficial for readers to familiarize themselves with the differences between assessment of/for/as learning and this follow link provides an organized chart of these differences:
http://www.crcs.bc.ca/teacherlinks/for-as-of.html

As I have continued my journey as a pre-service teacher, I have been enlightened to the overwhelming power of influence that I possess as a professional.  It is noted that teachers spend more time with students, than students do with their parents, and therefore teachers possess the ability to make great levels of impact on their students.  They impact the educational experience, content studied, methods of assessment, and levels of tolerated critical thinking.  Of these areas of impact, perhaps one of the most confusing, for both educators and non-educators, lies is in the realm of assessment.  All too often, non educators assume assessment refers to the marks students get on their report cards; this however could not be further from the truth.  According to The Saskatchewan of Education’s, Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook, “Assessment, [as] a broader term, involves collecting information on the progress of a student’s learning. It may include, but is certainly not limited to, measurement activities” (1991, p. 12).  Therefore it is essential for teachers to assess, and assess often, but to also realize that assessment is situational.  There are instances where assessment is not required and appropriate, like the development of trusting working relationships with students.  Recalling my professional power for choice, it is my responsibility to take my place as a future teacher whom incorporates appropriate assessment tools and strategies, by furthering my knowledge of assessment. As this professional development takes place, it is my hope that I will remain firm in the principals that motivated me into the teaching profession originally, including the opportunity to impact student’s lives for the better, while providing them situations where they will be encouraged and supported to their individual successes, instead of caving to the immense pressure put on teachers for assessment.  ,

There are two approaches to assessment, the first being formative approach, which is implemented during the learning process, and second being, summative approach, which is implemented during the final stages of learning. Formative assessment should be done, and done often throughout units of study.  This formative assessment approach provides teachers with a snapshot of student learning and mastery of content with the goal being for learning, and is important to both the student and teacher alike.  It is said that students are responsible for their own learning, however, teachers are employed for a reason, and that reason is to inform and mould students as they connect and grow within a societal community.  Just as students have goals for learning and mastery of content, teachers aim to inform students in concrete ways. Through student’s formative assessment results, teachers are provided an indication of their ability to communicate information with students.  Furthermore, trends in formative assessment results reveal the need for teachers to adapt their teaching and instructional strategies in any given unit of study.  Ultimately formative assessment not only indicates the growth of students as they learn, but provides teachers with an opportunity to learn if their teaching strategies are successful, or if adjustments are necessary to in turn affect student success.   Contrasting formative assessment, summative assessment is used to provide feedback of students learning, meaning it is often used at the end of a unit of study.  This approach to assessment is final, and should only be done after adequate formative assessment has been carried out.  This progression of assessment is successful when teachers are familiar with curricular outcomes and indicators and have a defined set of expectations of their students in relation to these outcomes and indicators.  Having these pre-set goals will aids in the deciphering of formative assessment results, and necessary plans for teacher adaptations that result in encouraging summative assessment results.

Continuing on with the concept of power that teachers possess, teachers make decisions about assessment tools utilized in the classroom, and these decisions in turn affect student’s abilities to perform for such assessment.  As a pre-service teacher I have been inspired to get to know my students learning styles individually, and it is noted that learning styles not only provide information on how students learn best, but extend by exposing information on types of assessments that would work well in conjunction with student learning styles. I am motivated to provide students will opportunities to succeed, and classroom success is often indicated using assessment.  Keeping this in mind, it would be irresponsible for a teacher to fashion static assessment tools without recognizing classroom diversity.  After all, “A fundamental premise of stage theories in child development  is that while all children proceed through the same stage of development in the same sequence, not all children proceed at the same rate” (Gullo, 2004, p. 13).  Therefore it is up to the teacher to remain aware of variances in the classroom and adapt teaching, and assessment to suit the needs of all students.  This does not mean teaching to the majority, but instead provide students with class work and assessment tool options.  This can be made easier for the teacher by involving students in the creation stages of assessment tools, and providing opportunities where students will become self-aware of their abilities as learners, and which assessment tool or strategy would best coincide with their learning style.

While assessment is required by teachers in their professional title description, it is my personal belief that assessment has its place, and is therefore situational.  Life skills are difficult to formally assess, unlike skills in mathematics and literacy, and here lies the challenge for teachers to make the choice about what skills should be, and are assessed.   I entered this profession with a mindset that I possessed the potential to guide students in their journey to become globally aware, critical thinkers.  I am still motivated by this goal, I have become increasingly aware of my strengths as an educator, and am dedicated and proud of my abilities to provide students with support and encouragement, develop a heighted sense of cultural awareness, and provide learning opportunities that allow them to use critical thinking skills, thus resulting in life-long learners.

In order for student’s to develop themselves as, critical life-long learners, they should be provided with the opportunity to draw on their lived experiences and the study of the human condition, therefore seeing their place in the global community.  By appreciating and giving like value to knowledge that comes from all subject matters including the humanities, allows students “to know” in all aspects of life.  According to Bransford and Schwartz (1999), this “appreciation of, and commitment to, an authentic pursuit of knowledge seems particularity important for preparing them for future learning” (p. 86), and this potential for the transfer of knowledge is especially motivating, regardless of classroom assessment results.

To further bridge student and society, I believe in the acknowledgement of the hidden curriculum.  In the past students were believed to be clean slates, however Marc Spooner elaborated in class time on January 23, 2012, that students enter the classroom having already had experience in which they are culturally defined.  Therefore the hidden curriculum will be different to different students, and therefore critical thinking skills are essential.  Essentially it is my hope that all of my students are successful, and I am aware that this level of success will vary.  It is my belief that student’s who active participation in their learning will be provided opportunities to develop critical global awareness and the potential for future learning.

Having already noted the difficulty to assess my teaching philosophy goals, I am not disheartened, and look forward to the challenges that are sure to lie ahead through pressures and assessment expectations. .  I plan to remind myself daily of my decision to become a teacher, and find strength in the realization that I am not alone in my struggle of philosophy.  Aboriginal people are advocating their right to have assessment changed to meet the needs of their culture sating,  “Educational indicators now widely used by the governments and researchers often do not reflect the goals and values identified by aboriginal peoples.  Indicators of Aboriginal learning must be broadened to measure more than simply years of school and performance in standardized assessments” (Bouvier, 2009, p. 7).  This quote speaks to me, as it not only advocates for First Nation people, but generally larger groups of people that distinguish goals that extend beyond traditional memorization of mathematics, and the ability to read.  It speaks to the bigger picture, and created students to succeed in their future encounters in society.  By role-modeling myself as an advocate for diversity of assessment, the place for globally aware critical thinkers whom are included in all aspects of their education, including assessment, it is my hope that I will serve as an inspiration to my colleagues, as I move forward in my educational pursuit.

In closing I believe that a responsible teacher should use formative assessment, thereby benefitting students in their ability to have successful summative results, through the adaptation of teaching.  Teachers hold a position of power, as they make choices that affect the lives of others, being their students. It is crucial that teachers set up support systems so they are not affected by the pressure to assess, forgetting their original goals, being, to affect lives.   To ensure critical thinking skills are invoked the teacher should integrate that learning is essentially an on-going journey.  Therefore, learning is comprised of small chapters of knowledge that are assessed using summative approaches, but there is no final test of comprehensive, life-long knowledge. It is a journey.