Transforming Praxis in Science Through Dialogue Toward Inclusive Approaches

• In Event: Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Iterative Alternatives to Assessment and Accountability

Abstract

This paper offers analyses from a project examining the construction of narrative assessments within elementary science investigations. We investigated how positioning children to express understandings through narrative assessments created spaces for revealing children’s perspectives on classroom experiences with their teachers and each other. Three layers of findings emerged. First, children’s narrations provided a platform for elaborating their understandings. Second, our findings illustrate the critical role of trust and time in working towards inclusive assessment practices. Lastly, dialogue around the children’s products illustrates how they made decisions and challenges normative ideas of what children can or cannot do or know. Overall we highlight how dialogue became a way for adults and children to cross boundaries of culture, age and knowledge hierarchies.

Authors

• Michelle Brendel

• Christina Siry, University of Luxembourg

• Jana Maria Hilgers, The University of Luxembourg