Equity, Assessment, and Agency in Teachers' Work: Alternative Secondary Schools in Toronto, Ontario

• In Event: 43.074 - Aspects of Teacher's Work and Learning in Canadian Schools

Abstract

This paper investigates the ways in which alternative secondary school teachers and students work together to shape curriculum content, activities and assessment, school-wide decision making, to create conditions that support equity. A qualitative study was conducted to gather information about perceptions of the schools and of decision-making processes. This paper presents the following findings: a combination of factors including alternative schools’ small size, personalized relationships, schools’ goals encourage teachers and students to participate in shaping teaching practices and school rules; many teachers feel increasingly hindered in their work to enact equity centered-pedagogical practices as a result of various school and board level decisions.Teachers utilize a multiplicity of assessment practices often reflecting pedagogical orientations of individual teachers and needs of their student.

Authors

• Sharon Alexander, University of Toronto

• Arlo Kempf, University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education