Understandings and uses of assessment: case study with Spanish teacher educators

Abstract

Assessment can serve different purposes. In Spain there has been an increase of research in assessment processes that intends to enhance students’ learning. Attending to this scenario, this study intends to explore the understandings of four teachers from one Spanish university, known as one of the most active in developing formative and shared assessment processes, about i) the process of implementing formative and shared assessment processes and ii) the impact of these assessments on students and on the teaching-learning process. Four teachers were purposively selected to be interviewed, according to their availability, use of assessment to promote students’ learning, work in a teacher education programme and have more than 15 years of experience as teacher. Analysis of data collected from semi-structured individual interviews resulted in the following themes i) formative and shared assessment – advantages vs. disadvantages, ii) vision about teacher education programmes, iii) teachers’ changes throughout their career, iv) students’ participation in assessment, and v) negotiating the teaching-learning process with students. These teachers consider that formative and shared assessment can be laborious, but worth the effort, mainly in teacher education programmes, where the focus is not only on student-person, but also on future teacher-person.