Manifestations of Traditional and Pro-Developmental Models of Learning in Current Assessment and Statements of Early Childhood Education Teachers

Abstract

Evaluation is an important process both individually and socially. The subject of the study was the models and goals of ongoing assessment revealed in the practices and statements/comments of teachers of grades I–III. The context for the formulation of the purpose of our own research is related to the understanding of assessment as one of the elements of the didactic system of the school, the teaching model implemented in it and the assumptions made about the essence of children's learning. The main research problem was framed by the question: How are traditional and pro-developmental models of learning manifested in the current assessment and statements of early childhood teachers? A qualitative approach was used with an individual semi-structured interview and overt observation as the primary research methods (ethnographic research). The observation was supported by analysis of the teachers’ conversations with children during daily activities. Document analysis was also conducted (including students’ notebooks). The research shows that in schools with an assessment model based on valuing the learning process, the assumptions and tools of formative assessment are used in a heterogeneous way, which indicates a distortion of constructivist concepts of assessment. The process of changing the understanding of children’s learning in the spirit of the constructivist paradigm is drawing a distant horizon, although its evolution from the bottom up is clearly visible. Teachers working in a school with a traditional assessment model are not familiar with the assumptions of the constructivist learning process.