Developing One's Moral Center Though Assessment Practices

• In Event: Investigating the Teacher and Student Self

Abstract

Building on Dewey, I describe how a teacher’s moral center is developed and affirmed through daily actions. Drawing on a collaborative blog with early childhood educators that was part of a masters course, I show how tracking developmental milestones has become largely synonymous with two ethical markers: doing right by children and by the profession.
I highlight the ways in which a daily assessment, Teaching Strategies Gold, molded the ways in which teachers perceived their practice along ethical terms. Finally, I showcase how exposure to alternative assessments disrupted the reliance on tracking milestones and led to a more expansive approach to development.

Author

• Cara Elizabeth Furman, University of Maine at Farmington