“Microcredentials, collegial cooperation, diagnostic testing – such methods of assessment motivate on the one hand and teach on the other,” said Dr. Tomasz Gajderowicz, deputy director of IBE PIB, during the seminar “Evaluating for Development”, held on February 25 in Cracow.
As Dr. Gajderowicz stressed, most assessment methods in Polish schools are currently point-based. In his opinion, in order for assessment to support the pupil, the range of methods used should be increased. “We see the teacher as a sort of doctor who has the best instruments to teach,” he argued. He stressed that an important pillar of the changes being prepared in education is autonomy, so that each teacher will have access to the best methods in order for assessment to serve the development of the pupil.
No one is planning to ban point-based scoring. We are aiming to enrich this method in order to use assessment for teaching. And not to use it solely as some kind of bludgeon: you are worse or better in the ranking of students. We want this feedback to work with error, to show what can be improved, because only then do we really learn.
Agency – or knowledge in practice
Among the important pillars of the planned education reform, the deputy director of IBE PIB pointed to agency, that is, the ability to use acquired knowledge in practice. He recalled that numerous research results show that students do not know what school is for.
Children are learning polynomials totally without knowing why, they are learning square roots and don’t know why, and they are learning about the proverbial paramecium and don’t know why,” said Dr. Gajderowski. “Showing that deep domain knowledge has its value because of what we can do with it further on is extremely important,
For education representatives from Małopolska
The methodological and scientific seminar entitled: “Assessment for Development – Assumptions, Challenges, Support Instruments” is an event organised by the Educational Research Institute – National Research Institute and Dr. Gabriela Olszowska, the Małopolska Superintendent of Education. Representatives of education from the Małopolska voivodeship, including directors of public and non-public primary/post-primary schools, employees of the school superintendent’s office, methodics advisors and pedagogical staff of psychological and pedagogical clinics, were invited to participate.
The purpose of the seminar was to provide information on the assumptions and practices of assessment that supports learning and the development of pupils, framing the subject of assessment from the perspective of educational psychology, as well as key challenges for schools in this area. In addition, during the panel discussion, good practices conducive to motivating the development of pupils were discussed.
The seminar was held as part of the project implemented by the Educational Research Institute – National Research Institute entitled: “Supporting the accessibility of education for children and youth”, co-financed by the European Union under the European Funds for Social Development 2021–2027 (FERS) Program.
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