ABSTRACT

Background

Assessment for learning (AfL) discourses and practices have gained popularity globally, as educational policies and ideas are transferred across borders. An important area of investigation is how AfL may be construed and enacted differently, according to context.

Purpose

By examining how teachers in Singapore understand and use AfL – a core principle embedded within differentiated instruction – this study explores how context influences assessment, learning and teaching beliefs and practices.

Method

As part of a larger study of how 10 public school teachers in Singapore understand and use differentiated instruction, the research reported here adopted a qualitative approach to elucidate teachers’ lived experiences. Data, which were analysed thematically, included 10 questionnaires, 30 semi-structured interviews, 39 lesson observation logs and pre- and post-lesson observation interviews.

Findings

The analysis identified three themes: (i) teaching and learning for Assessment of Learning (AoL) rather than AfL, (ii) teacher-directed rather than learner-driven AfL practices and (iii) behaviourist approaches in teaching and assessment practices. The finding suggested that teachers in Singapore face tensions as personal beliefs and practices around teaching, learning and assessment collide and/or coexist with their sociocultural and educational contexts.

Conclusions

Rather than assuming that educational ideas like AfL are acontextual or represent a ‘best practice’ that transfers easily across countries, scholars, policymakers and educators would benefit from considering more fully how AfL is a ‘situated’ concept, and reflecting more deeply on the complex interplay between source and destination contexts.

中文翻译：

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了解评估，学习和环境的相互作用：新加坡的见解

摘要

背景

随着教育政策和思想的跨越国界，学习评估（AfL）的话语和实践已在全球范围内广受欢迎。研究的一个重要领域是根据上下文，AfL的解释和制定方式如何不同。

目的

通过研究新加坡的教师如何理解和使用AfL（差异教学中的核心原则），本研究探索了情境如何影响评估，学与教的信念和实践。

方法

作为新加坡10名公立学校教师如何理解和使用差异化教学的一项较大研究的一部分，此处报道的研究采用定性方法来阐明教师的生活经历。经过专题分析的数据包括10份问卷，30份半结构化访谈，39堂课观察日志以及课前和课后观察访谈。

发现

分析确定了三个主题：（i）用于学习评估（AoL）而不是AfL的教与学；（ii）以教师为指导而不是由学习者主导的AfL做法；以及（iii）在教学和评估中采用行为主义的方法。这一发现表明，新加坡的教师面临着紧张的情绪，因为围绕教学，学习和评估的个人信念和实践与他们的社会文化和教育环境相冲突和/或共存。

结论

与其假设像AfL这样的教育理念是相互关联的，或是代表一种可以在各个国家之间轻松转移的“最佳实践”，学者，政策制定者和教育者将不会从更充分地考虑AfL如何成为“情境”概念中受益，并更深入地思考复杂的事物。源和目标上下文之间的相互作用。