Reflective Statement

Hugh Wilson

While researching the high stakes tests, a

particular quote stood out as something that I
had been pondering myself:

[] it is problematic to judge the quality of a diverse and challenging

education system against a single assessment, no matter how good it may
be.(Buckingham 2012, p.12)

With this in mind, I thought about all of these

various tests.
I was curious if there is or could be an
assessment that could account for so many
differing factors of education. Because of this,
questions such as, are we assessing the
system or the student? arose.

The system, the student, the teacher, society; all four are pivotal in
learning. This is shown through how much emphasis is placed on
systems, such as VCAA and CEOM, to guide teachers(Australian
Education Systems). The student is paramount in their own learning,
the American Psychological Society states, Research has shown that
motivation is related to whether or not students have opportunities to
be autonomous and to make important academic choices.
I believe that the student must be involved in their learning. They can
do this by getting help from theirteacher.
While the inevitable bias of studying to be a teacher influences my opinion
on
their value; Churchill et al state that
research in education [shows that nothing] improves student achievement
more than the introduction of a great teacher(2011, p.5).
Society, as shown in Hurshs experience, has a
huge impact on a student as well. He contends that, individual and
society as intertwined so that individual growth necessitates social
institutions and structures that support that growth.(2008, p.22).

With these beliefs in mind, I see assessment as

something that must be part of schooling.
Assessmentcannotbe seen as a separate part as it
is my belief that assessment directs how you teach.
This backward design model is one contention of
Churchill et al, who, similarly to my belief, state,
assessment should not be considered in isolation
from other aspects of the teaching and learning
process(p.396).
Churchill et al assert that this can
be done with a judgement/feedback loop
provided by ongoing assessment.

This is the start of fulfilling the Australian Institute

for Teaching and School Leaderships (AITSL)
standard for graduate teachers: Graduate teachers
must Demonstrate an understanding of the
purpose of providing timely and appropriate
feedback to students about their learning.(AITSL
2014).
This assessment for learning also ties in with
the Department of Education and Trainings
assessment advice, written about in School
Assessment Policy

AITSL maintains a graduate teacher needs to,

Demonstrate understanding of assessment strategies,
including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and
summative approaches to assess student learning.
These teachers then work up to a lead teachers role of
assessing the entire schools assessment policy(AITSL
2015).
While it seems that an understanding of assessment
strategies could be basic; I was surprised to learn of how
much depth that could cover. In turn, I realised how much
influence a school has in what kind of assessment its teachers
areallowedto use. While I may have my own opinions of
assessment policy, I must still conform to the standards of
what the school wants. This is due to schools enforcing their
own ideas in their assessment policy, team meetings and what
kind of teachers they hire.

While this is not inherently a bad thing, I do recall another

reading that influenced my questioning nature. Hursh
states:
It is then, in education, where the perennial
social and philosophical questions regarding how we live in
the world are put into practice. It is in teaching that we can
raise questions about which knowledge is worth knowing
and how to learn.(2008, p.26)
This is why one of my beliefs is that I have to question
assessment. Why I believe that the purpose of assessment
should be to constantly assess what my students need and
if the assessment needs to change, I will be able to
understand why and students will benefit from being a part
of this process rather than the product of it.