Consistency in assessment judgments of initial teacher trainees

1. Consistency in assessment judgments of initial teacher trainees Jean Palmer and Liz Zsargo University of Huddersfield

2. Our research • Action research Aims: • To improve the quality and consistency of mentoring • To ensure greater consistency in the assessment of trainees

3. Research questions • How do mentors understand mentoring? • How do mentors understand and carry out assessment of trainees?

4. So far... • Developed a two part mentor programme with much stronger moderation element • Revised mentor paperwork to include additional guidance and support • ‘Guide to mentoring’ • Mentor briefing podcast • Induction visits to new schools • Mentor conference

5. And… • Interviews and questionnaires • Workshops • Research into the process of becoming and being a mentor • Mentor views on how they approach the assessment and grading of trainee teachers

6. Part 1 - Starting point…understanding the being Can mentoring and reflection cause change in teaching practice?

7. Conscious awareness of your craft – verbalising what you are doing and why • Strengthens and sharpens identity as a teacher – philosophy of teaching • Opportunity to articulate (& so refine) professional knowledge • Developing own theory through dialogue • “We don’t learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience” (Dewey, 1933) • Sometimes involves uncomfortable moments (Stephanie Chitpin, 2011)

8. Initial Themes from Interviews • Own experience • Responsibility – ‘getting it right’ • Supporting the profession • Impact on own practice – reflection • Career progression

9. Workshop exercise What does mentoring mean to you?

10. Discussion • NB National Mentor Standards for England

11. Part 1 - Mentor journeys…understanding the becoming • When, why and how did you become a mentor? • What has your journey been? • How have you developed?

13. Workshop exercise My mentoring journey

14. Part 2 – ‘Consistency in assessment judgments’ • Marsh et al (2016) “the importance of conversations in supporting individual meaning and supporting organisational change” • Dialogue as “a very particular form of conversation involving the exchange of ideas and the search for shared meaning and common understanding” (Swaffield, 2008, p328)

15. Gut feeling • “teachers often seem sure which grade a certain student deserves but, when asked to explain why, they find it hard to express the grading criteria in words and refer to a ‘gut feeling’ or internalised criteria” (Svennburg, Meckback and Redelius, 2014, p200)

16. Initial Themes from Interviews • ‘Not just ticking boxes’ – informal and formal assessment • The role of ‘joint observations’ – mentors/senior mentors/tutors • The importance of partnership • ‘Is RI ‘good enough’?

17. Challenges with assessment • ‘Hodgepodge’ grading (Svennburg) • Differences of opinion • Lack of teacher (mentor) knowledge or confidence • Unconscious bias & personal constructs – what an individual thinks is important • Mentors often only see their own trainees

18. Workshop exercise Gingerbread trainees

19. Discussion • NB Teachers’ Standards – grading criteria

20. Thoughts on assessment • Assessment ‘makes people’ i.e. creates classifications and identities which did not previously exist (Stobart, 2014, p339) • It is therefore a deeply morally and ethically charged activity (Bolton, 2014, p174)

21. Theorising Teacher Education • Contested epistemologies – whose knowledge counts? • In England - • Pre-1992 – HEIs formally in lead role in ITE, with privileged knowledge – the authoritative source • Post 2010 – Turn to school-led ITE; school-based knowledge seen as privileged & authoritative

22. Zeichner’s ideas • Ken Zeichner, Teacher educator in the US • Argued that work in universities and in schools was often disconnected • Idea of a ‘third space’ which is neither fully school nor fully university • Need to aim for ‘non-heirarchical interplay’ between the partners: democratic, inclusive community of learning: different aspects of expertise (Zeichner, 2010)

23. CHAT (Cultural Historical Activity Theory) • Expertise as systematic i.e. located/ distributed across a system • Individuals develop in the context of the cultural practices they are exposed to and work within (Ellis, Edwards,& Smagorinsky, 2010) • Trainee teachers are learning within a “changing mosaic of interconnected activity systems” (Engestrom, 2001, p147) • The systems may be in tension at times but they do need to be in dialogue!

24. Third Space • Resisting the traditional divisions and boundaries (Turner and Blackburn, 2016, p272) • Going further, allowing space for something original and unique to develop, which neither is likely to have achieved without the other • “a transformative space where the potential for an expanded form of learning and the development of new knowledge are heightened.” (Guttierez, 2008, p152)

25. Creating a Third Space in ITE • Partnership committees and conferences • School Direct work • Co-creation of documentation and processes • Peer moderation

26. Initial themes from Interviews • A two-way process – from recruitment through to NQT year • Developing a joint vision • Being open to change • ‘acknowledging ourselves as learners’ – mentors, tutors, schools and students

27. References • Bolton, G. (2014) Reflective Practice (4th ed.)London, Sage • Chitpin, S., (2011). Can mentoring and reflection cause change in teaching practice? A professional development journey of a Canadian teacher educator, Professional Development in Education, 37:2, 225-240 • Ellis, V., Edwards, A., Smagorinsky, P. (2010) Cultural-historical perspectives on teacher education and development. London, Routledge. • Engeström, Y. (2001) Expansive Learning at Work: Toward an activity • theoretical reconceptualization, Journal of Education and Work, 14:1, 133-156 • Fletcher, S. (2000). Mentoring in schools. A handbook of good practice. London: Kogan Page • Gutiérrez, K. (2008) Developing a Sociocritical Literacy in the Third Space Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 43, No. 2. pp. 148-164

28. Marsh, S., Waniganayake, M., & De Nobile, J. (2016) Leading with intent: cultivating community conversation to create shared understanding. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 27:4, 580-593 • Stobart, G. (2014) Creating learner identities through assessment. In Pollard, A. (2014) Readings for Reflective Teaching in Schools. (2nd Ed.) London, Bloomsbury. pp 339-342. • Swaffield, S. (2008) Critical friendship, dialogue and learning, in the context of Leadership for Learning, School Leadership & Management, 28:4, 323-336 • Turner, E., & Blackburn, C. (2016) Prospective and Mentor Teacher Perspectives on Co-learning Events. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 24:4, 271-289 • Zeichner, K (2010) Rethinking the Connections Between Campus Courses and Field Experiences in College- and University-Based Teacher Education Journal of Teacher Education 61(1-2) 89–99

29. Please do get in touch! • j.f.palmer@hud.ac.uk • e.zsargo@hud.ac.uk