More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships

Assessment for learning (Afl) has become an integral part of current educational philosophy - both teachers and schools are judged on their ability to implement it effectively. Nearly two decades since Afl's appearance, opinions differ on exactly what it constitutes. General co nsens...

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Main Author: Batey, Edward
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2015
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29487/
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author Batey, Edward
author_facet Batey, Edward
author_sort Batey, Edward
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description Assessment for learning (Afl) has become an integral part of current educational philosophy - both teachers and schools are judged on their ability to implement it effectively. Nearly two decades since Afl's appearance, opinions differ on exactly what it constitutes. General co nsensus agrees that Afl has as its base a strong commitment to high quality formative assessment, but influential academics argue that Afl has deeper implications involving student voice and student ownership of their learning. The study proposes that as Afl requires students to think more critically about their learning, an important consequence of Afl should be a gradual shift towards more democratic classrooms and more peer oriented teacher – student relationships. Research was conducted at two inter national schools in a large metropolitan city in China through semi – structured interviews with five students and questionnaires with 20 teachers. Reflecting wider research, results show that students value closer, peer – oriented relationships with their teachers and believe this to have a positive effect on their learning. While the majority of teachers are comfortable with the formative assessment elements of Afl, a minority disagree with elements pertaining to evolving student – teacher relationships a nd a move towards a more democratic learning environment.
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spelling nottingham-294872017-10-14T18:44:57Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29487/ More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships Batey, Edward Assessment for learning (Afl) has become an integral part of current educational philosophy - both teachers and schools are judged on their ability to implement it effectively. Nearly two decades since Afl's appearance, opinions differ on exactly what it constitutes. General co nsensus agrees that Afl has as its base a strong commitment to high quality formative assessment, but influential academics argue that Afl has deeper implications involving student voice and student ownership of their learning. The study proposes that as Afl requires students to think more critically about their learning, an important consequence of Afl should be a gradual shift towards more democratic classrooms and more peer oriented teacher – student relationships. Research was conducted at two inter national schools in a large metropolitan city in China through semi – structured interviews with five students and questionnaires with 20 teachers. Reflecting wider research, results show that students value closer, peer – oriented relationships with their teachers and believe this to have a positive effect on their learning. While the majority of teachers are comfortable with the formative assessment elements of Afl, a minority disagree with elements pertaining to evolving student – teacher relationships a nd a move towards a more democratic learning environment. 2015-06 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29487/1/Batey_Edward_Dissertation.pdf Batey, Edward (2015) More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]
spellingShingle Batey, Edward
More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships
title More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships
title_full More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships
title_fullStr More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships
title_full_unstemmed More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships
title_short More than just a formative assessment: Assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships
title_sort more than just a formative assessment: assessment for learning as a driver for critical thinking, democracy and positive classroom relationships
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29487/