Abstract:
An Observation Guide, designed to help New Zealand teachers identify areas of teaching strength and aspects for development was developed as part of a wider project. In the second phase of this project, 18 middle school teachers used the Guide to gather and record evidence as they participated in seven rounds of reciprocal-peer observation and feedback during writing lessons with Years 7-9 students. We report here on data from round six observations about the Assessment for Learning (AfL) strategies reported as evident in teachers’ practice, how these strategies were implemented and potential gaps in practice. While teachers shared goals for learning and communicated what counted as successful achievement to students, they appeared to struggle when articulating goals in terms of literacy learning and to convey the substantive aspects and quality expected in students’ writing. Although much of the rhetoric associated with AfL places emphasis on teachers adopting strategies such as these, what matters most is how they are instantiated in practice. In addition, despite AfL’s promotion of learner autonomy, few teachers openly afforded students focused opportunities to take a meaningful role in their learning through the appraisal of their own and peers’ writing and the joint construction of feedback.