Studying Mathematics Teachers' Assessment Practices: Implications for Teacher Education Policy and Practice in Ghana

• In Event: Beyond Fragmentation: Global Perspectives on Didactics—Learning and Teaching

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of mathematics teachers’ assessment practices in Ghana (Oduro, 2015) and in particular considers the implications for policy and practice in relation to teacher education. The study explores key factors affecting assessment practices in mathematics classrooms. In particular, it provides an analysis of teachers’ views on assessment in relation to improvement and accountability. It also illuminates knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of the mathematics teachers and how these relate to practice. The study was conducted in 2011 with a purposive sample of four classroom teachers and two head teachers and involved a qualitative research design. Methods of data collection involved classroom observation, semi-structured interviews and document analyses. Findings from this study illustrate how teachers use both formal and informal assessments in mathematics classrooms although formal assessment dominates practice. They also highlight the ways in which teachers’ views about assessment and their conceptions of the nature of mathematics are related to their classroom practices and how teachers’ assessment practices are affected by a number of contextual factors that are related to institutional policies, professional development and classroom conditions. Of particular relevance in relation to the former were the teachers’ views about the nature of mathematics and the ways in which these can impact so as to degrade the ‘epistemic quality’ (Hudson et al, 2015; Hudson, 2015a and Hudson, 2015b) of school mathematics. This is characterised by a view of maths as infallible, authoritarian, dogmatic, absolutist, irrefutable and certain and which involves rule following of strict procedures and right or wrong answers in contrast to one that sees maths as fallible, refutable and uncertain and which promotes critical thinking, creative reasoning, the generation of multiple solutions and learning from errors and mistakes. It is evident that in the current context, the widespread implementation of ‘assessment for learning’ in Ghana is ambitious and will demand well-defined and context-specific approaches to classroom practices. The introduction of these innovative assessment practices marks a significant departure from traditional practice and as such will require regular professional support and a coordinated and collaborative effort from policy makers, schools and teachers. In conclusion paper considers the implications as a quality issue for teacher education policy and practice specifically.

Authors

• Evelyn Owusu Oduro, Ghana Education Service

• Brian Hudson, University of Sussex