Abstract
The concept of assessment is one of the most important practices in any education system across the globe. Tracing the concept probably to the time immemorial through the Chinese Imperial Examination System in the fifteenth century, the notion of assessment seems to have proved to be one of the indispensable markers of selection, placement and certification in modern education. In order to understand the concept, it is crucial to focus, among others, on the education system within which the notion itself is situated. As a crucial aspect of any education system, assessment is such that learners, at almost all levels of education, are subjected to a certain conventional practice with a view to categorising them according to certain pre-determined achievements. Perhaps, to examine the concept, we shall address ourselves to some of the specific questions as in who assesses whom? What form of assessment? How and why is such an assessment? On what premise is such educational assessment of learners in a particular education system? The paper intended to critically trace assessment in the context of Lesotho. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of subjectification, the paper intends to demonstrate the instrumentality of assessment as used in schools in the Kingdom. The paper concludes by suggesting alternative models of assessment so as to keep abreast with the twenty first century challenges facing modern education system. Key words: Traditional assessment, subjectification tool, schools, Lesotho.
Highlights
Viewed across the globe or worldwide, traditional assessment has since the Enlightenment period/Modern
It is notable that during this period, traditional assessment was seen as an indispensible tool, but, it was seen by its proponents as a modern project that had to be pursued for the advancement of society within the modernist Enlightenment perspective and the education system which came to be associated with emancipation and progress (Crossourd, 2012, Smith and Cumming, 2009; Torres and Mitchell, 1998)
Meighan (1986) sees assessment as collection of information, on which to base judgements about learning experiences, in schools. Despite this cacophony of definitions of the term, suffice to say, this paper will use assessment to mean judgement made about students’ school work by the assessors, because judgement is implicit in all the definitions
Summary
Faculty of Education, National University of Lesotho, P. English Department, Faculty of Humanities, National University of Lesotho P. The concept of assessment is one of the most important practices in any education system across the globe. System in the fifteenth century, the notion of assessment seems to have proved to be one of the indispensable markers of selection, placement and certification in modern education. The paper intended to critically trace assessment in the context of Lesotho. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of subjectification, the paper intends to demonstrate the instrumentality of assessment as used in schools in the Kingdom. The paper concludes by suggesting alternative models of assessment so as to keep abreast with the twenty first century challenges facing modern education system
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