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Communication and Collaboration: The Heart of Coherent Policy and Practice in New Zealand Assessment

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Assessment for Learning: Meeting the Challenge of Implementation

Part of the book series: The Enabling Power of Assessment ((EPAS,volume 4))

Abstract

Educational policy formation is the result of multiple influences, locally and internationally, with power struggles amongst political, economic, academic, practitioner, and local cultural contexts. Various theories abound regarding the international flow and influence of educational policies, such as ‘borrowing,’ ‘lending,’ ‘travelling,’ and ‘knowledge transfer.’ This chapter argues that ‘policy adaptation’ is the more pertinent term because policies generally mutate from one setting to another. Two examples of New Zealand policy enactment in formative assessment, one related to National Curriculum Exemplars and the other to National Standards, illustrate the centrality of clear communication and collaboration across all players in the educational sector, as well as responsiveness to the local political, economic, and cultural context for coherent policy and practice to occur. The examples demonstrate the role all players can and need to take in shaping policy. Indeed coherent policies that meet the greatest challenge of all—implementation in practice—can only occur through extensive collaboration and communication.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Teachers, principals, advisors, educational consultants, researchers; Ministry of Education National Assessment Advisory Group (comprising university academics, the Association of Colleges of Education, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, National Education Monitoring Project leader, Te Runanga Nui o Nga Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa [the National Collective Body of Māori language immersion schools embodying the language, philosophy and knowledge of Māori culture], professional development providers, primary, intermediate, and secondary school teacher and principal union representation, Schools Trustees Association, Catholic Education Office, New Zealand Area Schools Association, and the Independent Schools Council, as well as pertinent Ministry of Education personnel (Agenda notes, Ministry of Education 2000).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Jenny Poskitt

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  1. Jenny Poskitt
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Correspondence to Jenny Poskitt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Dany Laveault

  2. University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Linda Allal

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Poskitt, J. (2016). Communication and Collaboration: The Heart of Coherent Policy and Practice in New Zealand Assessment. In: Laveault, D., Allal, L. (eds) Assessment for Learning: Meeting the Challenge of Implementation. The Enabling Power of Assessment, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39211-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39211-0_6

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39209-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39211-0

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