Remember, for example, how quickly and deeply early years’ practices developed when the EYFS requirement that all EY practitioners become expert in micro observing learning as the basis for in-depth assessment was introduced?īut effective, sustained and fine grained assessment for learning is easier to describe than to do.
But what does this really mean? Perhaps it is easiest to understand what assessment practices that meet Professor Zhao and Benjamin Zander’s challenges look like in effective early years contexts. Professional learning that helps teachers and their leaders do this in increasingly fine grained, generative and detailed ways benefits teachers as well as pupils. You can get a flavour of this via his TED talk: Despite the challenges, observing, analysing and supporting progress are fundamental to learning. A point reinforced in the amazing, two hour tour de force from Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, warning about limiting expectations with measurement thinking. The system’s need to see things at scale means we value what we can measure at scale and the art form of systematic measurement is not well advanced.
There was a stimulating presentation from Professor Jong Zhao at the thoughtfully branded ( see below) Inspiring Leadership Conference with such provocative sounds bites as “Taking tests is simply an expression of conformity”, “in focussing on Pisa we are racing to the past”, and “We should stop fixing children’s deficits to build on their talents as entrepreneurs and creative people”! (Twitter will help you find more - #ILConf2014) The cliché is right.
A very focussed conference (Assessing the Way Forward) on 24 June, for all Yorkshire and Humber schools that wrestled determinedly with systematising and framing assessment, helped me pull some pretty disparate threads together. "Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful"*Īssessment is definitely in the air.
0 kommentar(er)
