Developing Assessment-Capable Teachers Through Engagement in Assessment for Learning (AfL): A New Zealand Study

Abstract

Utilizing data generated from an interpretive, qualitative research project, this chapter outlines an approach to teacher professional learning about assessment for learning (AfL) that was by nature experiential and collaborative. We provide an illustration of the ways in which teachers were required to actively engage in a number of AfL strategies to enhance their personal learning, supported by an academic staff member who personified an AfL teacher. In doing so, we demonstrate how the act of becoming an AfL learner, taught by someone who exemplified a skilled, competent, and confident AfL teacher, activated teachers’ examination of their beliefs about the roles and responsibilities of teachers and learners in learning and assessment and the apparent validity of these beliefs. Moreover, we show how teachers’ personal and vicarious experiences helped build self-efficacy in relation to teachers’ ability to implement AfL within their own classrooms as they recognized its importance to student learning. Overall, we argue that teachers’ lived experiences contributed to their assessment literacy and their assessment capability.