ABSTRACT

Recent policy reforms to the national assessment system in England have altered the way in which teachers undertake assessment. Through an analysis of data from a small-scale interview study with eleven primary teachers in the south and east of England, we examine the ways in which teachers work with assessment software to monitor and track attainment. By employing a theoretical lens focusing on power and implementing an analytics of government, we illuminate the visualising effects of whole-class digital assessment grids. A prominent feature across the data set is the use of the language of ‘gaps’ in relation to the teaching and assessment of mathematics. We argue that digital assessment tools act as technologies of power and of the self which shape teachers’ practices, their identities, how they position children as learners, but also shape the nature of the subject of mathematics itself. It is important to better understand assessment software in education and the discourses in which it operates in order to recognise what is at stake for teaching, learning and curriculum.

摘要

最近英格兰国家评估系统的政策改革改变了教师进行评估的方式。通过对英格兰南部和东部 11 名小学教师的小规模访谈研究数据的分析，我们研究了教师使用评估软件监控和跟踪成绩的方式。通过采用专注于权力的理论视角并实施政府分析，我们阐明了全班数字评估网格的可视化效果。整个数据集的一个突出特点是在数学教学和评估中使用了“差距”语言。我们认为，数字评估工具作为权力和自我的技术，塑造了教师的实践、他们的身份、他们如何将孩子定位为学习者，也塑造了数学本身的学科性质。重要的是要更好地理解教育中的评估软件及其运作的话语，以便认识到教学、学习和课程的利害关系。