“Softening the Edges” is a book by Katie White on assessment, particularly about how to use assessment in ways that will be comfortable and approachable to students. I’d like to specifically reference Chapter 4 and talk a bit more about formative assessment. Formative vs summative assessment was something introduced relatively early in the education program, and I felt like I had the idea down quickly. They represented concepts that I already knew about practically but had just never put a name to until then. This quick adoption of ideas actually ended up being a bit more of a bane than a boon, and I’ll explain why with a story.
When I was in high school, I was watching a movie on tv (commercials and all, this was before I had Netflix or anything like that) called “The Forbidden Kingdom”. The premise was simple enough, a regular teenager who was obsessed with kung fu games and movies finds himself in possession of a magic staff that he must return to its rightful owner. Along the way he meets a drunken scholar of sorts who helps guide him on his journey. At one point, he asks the scholar if he’s going to teach him various kung fu moves – listing names from games – while the scholar pours him tea. The scholar keeps pouring until it overflows, and the teenager complains. The scholar responds by saying:
“How can you fill your cup if already full? How can you learn kung fu if you already know so much? … empty your cup!”
Now “The Forbidden Kingdom” isn’t an all-time classic movie or some cinematic masterpiece, but the message from that one line is something I find myself coming back to over and over. Throughout my life – and especially during the last 8 months – I have been consistently finding myself needing to break down preconceived ideas and concepts of what and why things are done the way they are (and how they maybe should be).
This is exactly how I’m now feeling with formative assessment. In my mind I saw it as being “oh ok formative assessment is like when you ask questions during the lesson to see how students are doing”, but the scope of it is much larger and more flexible than that. I found myself rereading parts of Chapter 4 and I really resonated with the section on “Commit to the Process”. Unfortunately, during my practicum, I did fall into that trap of avoiding assessment because I didn’t want to “waste” class time, and I honestly felt like I was failing through multiple points. With support from my coaching teacher, I was able to employ some more tactics that brought together learning and assessment in a way that I think is more in line with my teaching philosophy. I especially found that doing low-stakes activities where students can display learning in a concrete way without having to worry about being graded on it was the best way forward. Through that I was able to modify my lessons AND summative assessments to better fit the needs of the class.
Emptying my cup is hard but getting stuck in my ways before I even have the in-classroom experience would be even harder. I’m trying to allow myself the grace to make mistakes and be wrong, and I’m hopeful that the growing and learning I’m doing will be reflected in the learning of my students now and in the future.
References
White, K. (2017). Softening the Edges: Assessment practices that honor K–12 teachers and learners. Solution Tree.
A few links to start with or refer to:
Transforming Assessment – BC’s New Curriculum
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/node/88
BC’s K-12 Assessment System – BC’s New Curriculum
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/assessment
Dylan Wiliam – YouTube – Assessment for Learning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiu-jY-xaPg
Dylan Wiliam – YouTube – Assessment Strategies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcJdZGz6ifY
Dylan Wiliam – YouTube – Formative Assessment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYdVe5O7KBE
Assessment: The Bridge Between Teaching and Learning – from Voices in the Middle, Volume 21, Number 2, December 2013
https://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/VM/0212-dec2013/VM0212Assessment.pdf