GRAVELLS ...
circumstances astutely, to draw sound conclusions and act in accordance with this analysis”. Wyatt-Smith and Klenowski (2013) suggest that judgement is inherently a private practice, and that only when standards are published and applied in context are judgements made defensible. For Sennett (2008), however, standards can act as inhibitors to highly skilled practitioners: the risk being that in adhering solely to such standards they result in a loss of genuine craft. I am not arguing against the existence of standards, but as teachers our professional judgement, which underpins much of what we do every day, must operate with reference to, but not total governance by, externally set standards. As educators we hone and develop our practice over time by collaborating with others, including experts, and this is not something that can be taken for granted. In essence, it is my belief that teaching exists as a discipline that defies neat definition. Common interpretations are varied, wide-ranging and represent the diverse contexts in which teachers operate and the different ways teaching as a practice can be understood. But this article has made the case for one of these aspects, assessment, to be recognised as a craft, owing to the integral role that human faculties, such as judgement, play in assessing, and in appreciating, how these faculties are established and maintained. Perhaps we can examine further composite aspects of teaching and ask similar questions of them in order to better understand teaching as a whole.
Michael Smith is learning innovation manager at Barking and Dagenham College. He is a Fellow of SET and holds Advanced Teacher Status. This is an abridged version of Michael’s article. A full version, with all the references, will be published at a later date.
... ON USING ASSESSMENT TO BOOST LEARNING
By Ann Gravells
Assessment is like a glass of Martini – it can happen anytime, anyplace, anywhere. It’s not just about checking whether a learner has met what’s required in a summative way, which is often formal, such as an exam or a test. It’s also about planning for learning and measuring progress, known as formative or ongoing assessment. The methods used are often informal, such as a discussion or a quiz. Initial assessment can be used to help you find out what your learner can already do and/or already knows and understands. This enables you to address any gaps in their learning (known as assessment for learning), as opposed to summative assessment (assessment of learning). Here are a few practical ways to use assessment to boost learning, which will depend upon the level of your learners and the subject you teach. After an activity, you can plan what each learner needs to do to progress further. Ask learners to: • state what they already know, then ask more questions to confirm their understanding;
• demonstrate a skill to see what they can and can’t do, while also asking questions to check knowledge and understanding;
• try something different, e.g. use a quiz instead of a worksheet, or a simulation instead of an assignment;
• build a working model of something, rather than asking questions; • assess each other by creating and using their own questions and tasks. They can give feedback to each other under your guidance;
• produce a presentation or create a short video about a particular topic, to show to their peers;
Ann Gravells is an author who specialises in supporting new teachers, assessors and quality assurers. Ann is a Fellow of SET.
www.anngravells.com
A seminal work on assessment for learning is Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment, by Dylan Wiliam and Paul Black.
• Sennett, R. (2008). The Craftsman. Penguin Books
•Wyatt-Smith, C., & Klenowski, V. (2013). Explicit, latent and meta-criteria: types of criteria at play in professional judgement practice. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 20(1), 35-52.
• role-play a hypothetical situation to see how they would behave;
• write a reflective journal after you have introduced a new topic, or at the end of a particular theme;
• research a topic and write about it as though they are explaining it to someone else who has never come across it;
• design an advert based on a topic, either for a fictional newspaper, which could be online or paper-based;
• write a blog or produce a podcast at various intervals of the subject.
Alternatively, just experiment with something different and see what works and what doesn’t.
MEMBER OFFER
SET members can claim 20 per cent off the RRP for Ann’s book, Principles and Practices of Assessment, when ordering direct from SAGE Publishing
www.sagepub.com. Use code ASSESS20 when prompted.
inTUITION ISSUE 36 • SUMMER 2019 19
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