Abstract
AbstractAs China continues to involve teachers in the implementation of an assessment for learning or formative assessment policy, a clearer understanding of how they conceive of the purposes and functions of assessment is necessary. This paper synthesises eight interview and survey studies, which have examined how diverse samples of practicing teachers in China have described the nature and purpose of assessment. Making use of inductive analyses and factor analytic techniques, variations in the constructs identified in teachers’ thinking are identified and aligned across the study methods. Six major constructs were identified, ranging from the positively regarded ideas that assessment develops the personal qualities and academic abilities of students to the more negatively viewed role of assessment for management and inspection of schools. This framework allows better insights into the challenges policy-makers might have in involving teachers in an effort to reduce negative consequences associated with h...
Highlights
What teachers believe about assessment matters to how they implement, interpret and respond to evaluative practices
In light of large class sizes common in China and the importance of examination success, Chinese classroom practices focus on (1) rigorously controlled teaching demonstrations that are frequently evaluated by peers and administrators, (2) maximising student scores on all forms of evaluation, (3) removal of curriculum content not explicitly evaluated by the examination system, (4) high student workloads to ensure mastery of examination material, (5) teacher-centric transmission of discipline-specific and “bookish” knowledge, and (6) mechanistic, rote-learning, memory-driven learning and pedagogical strategies (OECD, 2011)
Since successful change requires the active endorsement of the agents expected to carry out the changes (Hargreaves & Fullan, 1998), there are grounds for thinking that assessment reform is feasible in China
Summary
What teachers believe about assessment matters to how they implement, interpret and respond to evaluative practices. In light of large class sizes common in China and the importance of examination success, Chinese classroom practices focus on (1) rigorously controlled teaching demonstrations that are frequently evaluated by peers and administrators, (2) maximising student scores on all forms of evaluation, (3) removal of curriculum content not explicitly evaluated by the examination system, (4) high student workloads to ensure mastery of examination material, (5) teacher-centric transmission of discipline-specific and “bookish” knowledge, and (6) mechanistic, rote-learning, memory-driven learning and pedagogical strategies (OECD, 2011). There are policy pressures, especially in the basic curriculum, to use assessment more educationally to guide improved teaching and learning (Gao, 2002; Liu & Qi, 2005). While teachers may have little control over official examination policy and practices, they are increasingly expected to use assessments to improve the quality, nature and quantity of student learning outcomes by using data about student performance to modify their own classroom practices. A deeper understanding of how Chinese teachers conceive of assessment will be useful to policy-makers, school leaders and even assessment developers, in supporting the implementation of the new curriculum
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