Tests have been the most used way to assess students –and for
some teachers the only one way–. The new teachers should look for another way
to, not only measure students’ performance, but also to assess them and give
the appropriate feedback. The alternatives in assessment proposed by Brown could
be a good tool to implement in our classes. Portfolios, journals, interviews,
conferences, self-assessment, and peer assessment could be sometimes difficult
to use in Colombian classrooms, but if we are creative we can find the way to
make them practical and reliable.
By using these alternatives in assessment the teacher could
interact more with the students and know more about their thoughts, feelings,
and could follow their learning process closer. Also, the teacher would have
the opportunity to assess every single class and not only the day of the test. It
will enhance students learning process because they are not going to study for
the test but for life. It also makes it possible to give the appropriate feedback
in the moment it is needed.
Taking into account the large groups that Colombian public
schools have and the difficulty that applying these techniques bring, teachers
should decide in advance the goals they want their students to achieve, and
also give them a lot of input and instruction in the usage of them to make them
more practical and interesting.
The following is a video in which the alternatives in
assessment are described:
I agree with you when you said that it would be difficult to use alternative assessment in Colombian classrooms; but, why? Alternative assessment is a great way to get to know our students and their learning process. Nevertheless, students are neither used to be closely followed by teachers nor to talk or write about their "feelings". There is the challenge!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I believe that once your students get used to you and your "new" methods, it all will work out. So, it's difficult but not impossible.
Natalia, I agree with you when you said that getting to know students and having a closer relationship with them could help your teaching methods succeed.
DeleteHowever, I consider that not only by achieving this things would work out. I would like to leave here some other facts that are reasons why alternative assessment is hard to implement in Colombian classrooms and I’m pretty sure it’s not only a matter of laziness ( I mention this not because you have said it, but because I have heard it around).
First of all, I think that the key starting point here is whether you are a public or private school/institute teacher. Why? Because having to review and give feedback to 45 students is a factor that would make you think twice about doing so. Let’s think that our public school teacher is willing to go through that amount of work, but here comes another issue: time. This school teacher gives classes around 23 hours per week; furthermore, he has to monitor students a couple of times a week during break time, room cleaning and when they are leaving school. Moreover, this teacher is given a schedule that establishes some hours for parents meetings, teachers meetings and other activities related to the school. Sometimes, language teachers are in charge of some schools’ celebrations such as language day and others. And finally, this teacher of course has a family and other activities or even another job.
I consider that in spite of all these factors and others that I should have missed; there are teachers that still make a lot of efforts and arrange their schedules to give their best. And I’m not saying this because I want to give an excuse for those teachers who do not implement alternative ways of assessment, but for us to keep in mind there are lots of reasons why it’s very hard.
Nice point of view Manuel, I think the most important thing is to apply those kinds of assessment, taking into account the situation we are going throug in schools, so if we set up goals, and have a claer perspective of what we want to achieve, we can make this work for our education. It is just about being committed, and really make an effort to make things better.
ReplyDeleteI think the most valuable and relavant aspect in alternatives in assessment is the fact that they increase the chances to give appropriate feedback to students. That is what makes the learning process effective. When we as teachers focus on strengths and weakneses we really help students improve and reflect on what they are learning and how they are doing it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Manuel, and despite not having the appropriate conditions Colombian education and teaching should change significantly.
ReplyDeleteThe new or alternative assessment techniques must not be an option but an obligation for teacher to apply in order to improve the way in which students receive feedback and thus its student field performance.
I think, as you do, that with the education system that we have in Colombia it is difficult to start implementing the new alternatives of assessment that we have been studying; but i also think that, in fact, it is what we need, new ways to improve our teaching methods and make them work out for the development of great learning experiences for our students.
ReplyDeleteWe need to have determination if what we want is to try out different assessment tools that bring more benefits to our classrooms.
I really like your ideas Manuel! We need to make alternatives in assessment more practical and reliable, and having clear objectives since the beginning and guiding our students during the process are the best ways of doing it. But how are we going to introduce those "new" practices and make them part of our everyday classes? Well, I think before having our students work on those tasks we should socialize with them. We should allow us some time to discuss the topic with them and make them participate in deciding in which ways they would like to be assessed. Students have to be more aware of their learning and that implies paying more attention to how they can assess themselves and how we teachers assess them.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely alternatives in assessemnt are of great importance in our field, first of all because in this comunicative era students want to be listened and want their likes to be known. Another fact that push us to use these methods,is that, as they are more visual and kinesthetic than ever, they need to see and feel that what they are learning can be materialized in somtheing. Finally, What we as teachers need to create is a good system to evaluate this alternative assessment by means of being fear with all students.
ReplyDeleteThat’s important what you have mentioned Manuel, because we as teachers should know that tests are only subsets of assessments and that they are not the only way to measure students´ knowledge. There are other more demanding ways to assess students as you have already mentioned, and although they are more time consuming they provide higher feedback and authenticity.
ReplyDeleteI had a bad experience with these alternatives in assessment due to the fact that, as we all know, she did not know how to use them in the bestest of ways. Even though, I would like to use them in the appropiate way with my students. I think that in this world, where the communicative competence is key, they will be very usefull.
ReplyDeleteManuel, I think you are completely right when you talk about the reality in classrooms. We sometimes could have 45 or more students in a class which is difficult to manage, and discipline is almost impossible to handle. I listened before that public schools need more young, active and involve teachers but the payment is less than million and a half. We want to make some changes in the education path and also we want to start in Colombia, but sometimes what you need to do interfere with your life project. Would you sacrifice somehow your career and your lifestyle, in order to contribute a bit in public schools?
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned something really important. We are able to apply alternative assessment while we are working with groups that are not bigger than 15 students per class, however I think that using another type of assessment with larger classrooms are not so difficult as it seems because the hardest part would be given the students the appropiate feedback, just because you will need a lot of time to do so, and usually those teacher do not have it.
ReplyDelete