2011

Törmä, Elina

The purpose of this narrative research is to describe a) my personal growth in implementing and developing assessment as a researching teacher and b) the action research I implemented with my fellow teachers in order to develop growth-oriented pupil assessment. Through narrative analysis, reflection and reflective writing, my autobiographic material and the data collected during the action research process constitute a narrative. This narrative aims at offering readers resources for reflecting on their own thinking and practice regarding evaluation and for developing assessment. The key point of departure for the study is to develop assessment implemented during interaction, on the value basis of supporting the development of pupils' self-concept. The development of growth-oriented assessment relies on a teacher' s own identity and the promotion of his/her growth. The aim of the action research implemented by myself and my colleagues on this basis has been a) to further our awareness of our own evaluation thinking and practice, as well as its development, b) to develop our pupils' self-assessment skills and ask them about their experiences of interactive assessment, and c) to promote our professional growth through collegial collaboration. Our action research has been participatory, collaborative and reflective. Reflective discussions and data collection methods have been based on classroom observations and videos, as well as on interviews with teachers, pupils and parents. The principal finding of our study is the opening up of a communicative space both in our evaluation practices and, through the research, in our social relationships. The communicative space opened up to our colleagues and pupils as we developed class interaction, teacher-student dialogue, evaluative discussion, and self-assessment (4th evaluation generation). The communicative space expanded to encompass parents when they were included in the evaluation discussions (5th evaluation generation) and in the research. The individual narratives can also be considered to be our research findings. These narratives concretize our own development and the elements promoting pupils' growth in teacher' s thinking and action, in addition to the experiences of pupils, teachers and parents. The narratives offer a basis for reflection and material for implementing and developing qualitative growth-oriented pupil assessment, to be utilized by teachers, teacher students, in teacher education and, in general, in the debate on evaluation and its value basis.