Lenore Adie

Identifying discourses of moderation in higher education

Moderation of student assessment is a critical component of teaching and learning in contemporary universities. Yet, despite this, it tends to be marked by idiosyncratic and sporadic processes informed by liminal understanding. This paper, in the light of forthcoming radical national requirements for the declaration of moderation processes in tertiary curricula in Australia, will present four discourses of moderation we identified in a recent study in a Faculty of Education in a large metropolitan university. The discourses are equity, justification, community building and accountability. Together, they will act as a starting point for academics to review their beliefs and attitudes towards the moderation of student assessment.

The hegemonic positioning of ‘Smart State’ policy

The Australian State of Queensland’s ‘Smart State’ policy is the Government’s response to global conditions that require a new type of worker and citizen for a new knowledge economy. As a result the Government has produced a plethora of documents and papers in every aspect of its operation to progress Queensland as a ‘Smart State’. The role of education in the success of the ‘Smart State’ is clearly outlined in the Queensland Government’s vision statements and policies (Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts 1999). The purpose of this article is to utilise Norman Fairclough’s theories regarding the relationship between discourse and social change, to examine the interdiscursive, linguistic and semiotic strategies used in ‘Smart State’ policy to show how this discourse is emerging into a hegemonic position within the discourses of Queensland education.

The development of shared understandings of assessment policy: travelling between global and local contexts

In this paper, teachers’ enactment of assessment policy within demands for accountability and consistency of teacher judgements is considered. Evidence is drawn from a qualitative study involving 50 middle school teachers from Queensland, Australia, who participated in online social moderation meetings with teachers located in dispersed areas around the state. The study presents how travelling policy is embedded in local histories and cultures, in particular within systems of accountability; and the different layers of what may be considered ‘local’. The paper examines the intersections of travelling and embedded policy, and global and local contexts as these are enacted through online moderation meetings.

The development of teacher assessment identity through participation in online moderation

Teachers’ professional conversations regarding the qualities evidenced in student work provide opportunities to develop a shared understanding of achievement standards. This research investigates social moderation conducted in a synchronous online mode as a specific form of professional conversation. The discussion considers the different factors that influenced these conversations which included the technologic medium of the meeting. The focus of the discussion is how participation in online moderation can support teachers to develop an assessment identity as one who works within a standards-based assessment system. Qualitative data were gathered from middle school teachers from different year levels, in different curriculum areas, in diverse geographic locations, and in a range of sociocultural contexts within Queensland, Australia. Analysis of the data through a sociocultural lens of becoming suggests that participation in online moderation, while challenging for teachers, can also provide opportunities to construct and to negotiate an identity as an assessor of student work.

Schooling elsewhere: rurality, inclusion and education

Over its history, the International Journal of Inclusive Education has had a strong record of naming, critiquing and redressing the ways in which particular social locations shape experiences of in...

Teachers using annotations to engage students in assessment conversations: recontextualising knowledge

Assessment for Learning practices with students such as feedback, and self- and peer assessment are opportunities for teachers and students to develop a shared understanding of how to create quality learning performances. Quality is often represented through achievement standards. This paper explores how primary school teachers in Australia used the process of annotating work samples to develop shared understanding of achievement standards during their curriculum planning phase, and how this understanding informed their teaching so that their students also developed this understanding. Bernsteins concept of the pedagogic device is used to identify the ways teachers recontextualised their assessment knowledge into their pedagogic practices. Two researchers worked alongside seven primary school teachers in two schools over a year, gathering qualitative data through focus groups and interviews. Three general recontextualising approaches were identified in the case studies; recontextualising standards by reinterpreting the role of rubrics, recontextualising by replicating the annotation process with the students and recontextualising by reinterpreting practices with students. While each approach had strengths and limitations, all of the teachers concluded that annotating conversations in the planning phase enhanced their understanding, and informed their practices in helping students to understand expectations for quality.

Assessment Moderation in an Australian Context: Processes, Practices, and Challenges.

ABSTRACT Moderation is a quality assurance process that plays a central role in the teaching, learning, and assessment cycle in higher education. While there is a growing body of research globally on teaching, learning, and, to a lesser degree, assessment in higher education, the process of moderation of assessment has received even less attention. In a context of heightened accountability and greater transparency in the tertiary sector, the formalising of moderation processes has not been a part of established practice. In light of these changes, the purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and investigate current marking and moderation processes and practices operating within one faculty in a large urban university in eastern Australia to gain insight into the challenges to effective moderation. The findings suggest the need for moderation to be considered holistically as an inherent part of teaching and learning, and the need for ongoing staff development.

International representations of inclusive education : How is inclusive practice reflected in the Professional Teaching Standards of China and Australia?

Inclusive education focuses on addressing marginalisation, segregation and exclusion within policy and practice. The purpose of this article is to use critical discourse analysis to examine how inclusion is represented in the education policy and professional documents of two countries, Australia and China. In particular, teacher professional standards from each country are examined to determine how an expectation of inclusive educational practice is promoted to teachers. The strengthening of international partnerships to further support the implementation of inclusive practices within both countries is also justified.

The School-Community Integrated Learning pathway: Exploring a new way to prepare and induct final-year preservice teachers

Universities and teacher employment bodies seek new, cost-effective ways for graduating classroom-ready teachers. This study involved 32 final-year preservice teachers in an innovative school–university partnership teacher education programme titled, the School-Community Integrated Learning (SCIL) pathway. Data were collected using a five-part Likert scale survey with extended written responses. Survey results showed that preservice teachers involved in the SCIL pathway learnt more about the teaching profession, which extended their usual university coursework. Furthermore, written responses suggested ways for advancing their understandings to ensure preservice teachers receive a quality school experience towards readiness for teaching.

Formative assessments and teacher professional learning

Formative assessments and teacher professional learning, edited by Dineke Tigelaar and Douwe Beijaar, is a compilation of articles previously published as a special edition of Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, volume 19, issue 2 (April 2013). The book presents a series of studies that drew on principles of formative assessment to support teachers’ professional learning. While the effectiveness of formative assessment has been researched within school educational contexts, there is limited work that has explored this in the context of teacher professional learning. Rather than present frameworks for professional learning, the articles examine learning progress through formative activities such as self-assessment and feedback against reference points such as standards, criteria, exemplars and other resources. The different contexts that form the basis of each chapter describe possible ways formative assessment could be incorporated in professional learning as a responsive pedagogy. In the true sense of formative assessment, study participants could access next-step learning at their identified point of need. The variety of ways that formative activities were enacted make this a useful book for those developing professional learning activities. In the following review, features of the book are described, and future directions to progress the use of formative activities to support teacher learning are identified. The chapters describe learning in contexts such as nursing education and teacher education for pre-service and in-service teachers. The book provides conceptual and methodological frameworks to examine teacher professional learning. A range of formative activities, research designs incorporating quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis, and practical strategies for implementation are described. The book has elicited examples of professional learning from a range of countries, though, excepting an example from Mexico, all other cases stem from European contexts: three of the chapters from the Netherlands, the remainder being one each from Sweden, Portugal and the UK. While this is not a criticism, future research could investigate how these findings may be applied in other cultures, such as in Asia, which may introduce different expectations regarding roles and relationships, and expressions of knowledge and practice. The book includes an introductory chapter by the special edition editors, in which they provide an overview of formative assessment, identifying three key characteristics from which they classify and describe the papers: the reference levels (for example, criteria and standards), the feedback setting inclusive of the role of participants and artefacts, and the evidence of learning and how this is generated and used. Following are eight chapters, seven being the studies, with the eighth and final chapter, a response to the special issue written by Kari Smith. In her response, Smith highlights the contribution of the issue to progressing thinking on teacher learning as enacted within formative assessment. Smith identifies some central themes within the papers which include the need for professional dialogue and feedback coupled with a supportive space to deeply engage and reflect on personal pedagogic practice. She notes that all the papers ‘rely heavily on self-reporting’ (p. 121), and fall short of obtaining student views of the effectiveness of the practice or evidence related to the impact on student learning. This then is the second challenge for future research in this field. While the teachers involved in formative assessment to enhance their learning on the whole report positive benefits, the Assessment in educAtion: PrinciPles, Policy & PrActice