My Culmination of Critical Assessment
I anticipated “Critical Perspectives of Assessment” to be an epiphany. Subconsciously, I almost expected a sudden clarity. Like an elevator, I expected it to smoothly ride me to the top of understanding how to assess a student’s efforts – a power of judgment that still holds me in a sort of fear. But learning is so rarely an elevator. Learning is more often a climb.
In this class, instead of an elevator, I got stairs. I got a series of starting points. Names to the pedagogical strategies I had been exposed to for years. Tips and tricks from experienced climbers, closer to the top than I. Tools to make it easier, little “aha” moments. My climb to become an educator is one that I started a long time ago. It started as soon as I could form opinions about how I appreciated being taught and what assignments I disliked. As a university student, I have learned what styles of assessment I find valuable which agree with my own perspective. I take note of how certain comments make me feel and which feedback forms inspire me to work harder or strengthen my trust with my professors. ECS 401 stretched me to reflect further on the purpose of each assignment. It gave me the opportunity to think of myself as the assessor, instead of one being assessed, and challenged me to take stock of little details. I learned the ripple effect of my wording – how my word choice will be interpreted by both student and parent. It also brought to my attention the importance of accurate and honest feedback, which I agree with, but is a concept I struggle with. I want my students to feel good about their learning, but now I also want them to feel challenged and equipped to do more. I also learned how important it is to know your student and when to push them to their full potential, and when to let them rest.
This idea of climbing stuck me and that what I drew for my visual portion. I like to think through the metaphors of my own life and this next story helps me put to words my takeaway understandings of assessment overall and its place in the classroom. When I worked at camp in my summers as a teen, I used to work at the climbing wall. I’d stand at the bottom, tethered to a camper trekking their way up the wall. Sometimes the camper would feel overwhelmed. They didn’t believe they could climb all of the way up the wall because they were afraid, because they did not believe they had enough strength or because they didn’t see the next rock to get up. As someone who was outside of the situation and had more perspective than they because I could see the whole wall, I got to be their “assessor” in a sense. I used my words and feedback to encourage them, to challenge them to keep trying, and to help them figure out where to go next. The camper needed to trust that I would keep them safe as they were tethered to me. They needed to trust that I would catch them if they fell, and that I would help them find their way back. They did better when they knew that they could always try again. To help them find the next rock, they needed me to give them specific feedback as to where the next rock was. Some campers did better if I gave them multiple options and they could choose what felt right to their abilities. Each camper responded differently to the situation. The best “belayers” (the people holding the rope at the bottom) knew when to encourage kids to climb and when to let them stop and decide to try again later. Finally, even if the belayer was no good at encouraging the campers, there were still kids who succeeded. They pushed themselves and made it to the top. As an educator, students will still learn in spite of me. It’s their natural instinct. But if I want to get the best out of all of them, I need to learn to be a good tether and help guide them through the climb that is their education and, ultimately, their life. I learned these things from my own “climb” in this course as I was pushed and grew in my knowledge of assessment.
