Democratic Assessment as Action Research

• In Event: 31.091 - Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: 31.091-14 - Student Roles and Voice in Classroom Assessment

Abstract

Practitioner research projects in early childhood centres in New Zealand indicate that when teachers include children’s voices in their formative assessments, and make them available for revisiting by children and families in portfolios, the children are recognised as teachers, authors and researchers too. This is illustrated using examples from projects in two early childhood (0-5 year-olds) settings: a kōhanga reo (a language immersion centre where only Māori, the indigenous language, is spoken) and a state-funded kindergarten housed in the national museum. In both settings narrative assessments – Learning Stories or Paki Ako – are connected to the framework of principles and outcomes in Te Whāriki, the national bicultural and bilingual early childhood curriculum.

Authors

• Margaret A. Carr, University of Waikato

• Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips, The University of Waikato

• Brenda Soutar, Mana Tamariki