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‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales

Elizabeth Titley, Andrew James Davies Orcid Logo, Stephen Atherton

The Curriculum Journal, Volume: 31, Issue: 2, Pages: 303 - 316

Swansea University Author: Andrew James Davies Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/curj.36

Abstract

This paper reports teacher and learner perspectives on how assessment and reform influences pedagogical practices and behaviours. The research was conducted in a context of policy reform, at a time when Wales’ revised General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) specifications had been implemen...

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Published in: The Curriculum Journal
ISSN: 0958-5176 1469-3704
Published: Wiley 2020
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66328
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spelling v2 66328 2024-05-08 ‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales 0f10dbd0f6e292e5ee4e1801ae95137e 0009-0008-1324-3913 Andrew James Davies Andrew James Davies true false 2024-05-08 SOSS This paper reports teacher and learner perspectives on how assessment and reform influences pedagogical practices and behaviours. The research was conducted in a context of policy reform, at a time when Wales’ revised General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) specifications had been implemented, and learners were preparing for their assessments; but, also during the period of debate on the development of Wales’ new curriculum, which has taken a distinct and contrasting position on assessment to the assumptions underlying the reform of Welsh GCSEs implemented from 2015. These data, therefore, offer unique insights into the affordances and limitations of two sharply contrasting systems at a time of considerable change, offering reflections on the current curriculum and its attendant assessment practices, and also a prospective analysis of how the principles embedded in the new curriculum could challenge these existing assumptions and conventions. Findings suggest that teachers and learners currently inhabit an assessment-driven system, which encourages performative practices in pedagogy and is governed by external accountability; and that these practices are at odds with the principles of assessment articulated in Successful Futures. Consequently, teachers in this study expressed uncertainty about how assessment for certification purposes at GCSE could be compatible with the principles of the Curriculum for Wales. Journal Article The Curriculum Journal 31 2 303 316 Wiley 0958-5176 1469-3704 assessment; accountability; reform; performativity; Curriculum for Wale 1 6 2020 2020-06-01 10.1002/curj.36 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee School of Education at Aberystwyth University 2024-06-20T11:44:04.3784367 2024-05-08T11:38:30.4471689 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies Elizabeth Titley 1 Andrew James Davies 0009-0008-1324-3913 2 Stephen Atherton 3 66328__30694__be556a878e0f4e2794498adacdecfef9.pdf 66328.VoR.pdf 2024-06-20T11:42:35.7906429 Output 83813 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2020 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title ‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales
spellingShingle ‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales
Andrew James Davies
title_short ‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales
title_full ‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales
title_fullStr ‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales
title_full_unstemmed ‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales
title_sort ‘[It] isn’t designed to be assessed how we assess’: rethinking assessment for qualification in the context of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales
author_id_str_mv 0f10dbd0f6e292e5ee4e1801ae95137e
author_id_fullname_str_mv 0f10dbd0f6e292e5ee4e1801ae95137e_***_Andrew James Davies
author Andrew James Davies
author2 Elizabeth Titley
Andrew James Davies
Stephen Atherton
format Journal article
container_title The Curriculum Journal
container_volume 31
container_issue 2
container_start_page 303
publishDate 2020
institution Swansea University
issn 0958-5176
1469-3704
doi_str_mv 10.1002/curj.36
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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department_str School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies
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description This paper reports teacher and learner perspectives on how assessment and reform influences pedagogical practices and behaviours. The research was conducted in a context of policy reform, at a time when Wales’ revised General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) specifications had been implemented, and learners were preparing for their assessments; but, also during the period of debate on the development of Wales’ new curriculum, which has taken a distinct and contrasting position on assessment to the assumptions underlying the reform of Welsh GCSEs implemented from 2015. These data, therefore, offer unique insights into the affordances and limitations of two sharply contrasting systems at a time of considerable change, offering reflections on the current curriculum and its attendant assessment practices, and also a prospective analysis of how the principles embedded in the new curriculum could challenge these existing assumptions and conventions. Findings suggest that teachers and learners currently inhabit an assessment-driven system, which encourages performative practices in pedagogy and is governed by external accountability; and that these practices are at odds with the principles of assessment articulated in Successful Futures. Consequently, teachers in this study expressed uncertainty about how assessment for certification purposes at GCSE could be compatible with the principles of the Curriculum for Wales.
published_date 2020-06-01T11:44:04Z
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