Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Professional Learning of Classroom Assessment in Singapore: Understanding Epistemic and Cultural Mediations of Practices Through the Case of Pei Pei

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Teacher Learning with Classroom Assessment

Abstract

This chapter explores the professional learning episodes involved in classroom assessment through the case study of a Singaporean classroom teacher (‘Pei Pei’), which was conducted by means of researcher-led interviews and observations. Such episodes encouraged this teacher to see and distil what she considers to be better classroom assessment practices in her English and music classrooms. Such findings from a teacher’s reflections suggest that the explicit ‘knowing about’ that is inherent in classroom assessment is very different from the ‘knowing that’, which is disseminated through generic professional learning procedures. They also highlight the possibilities of how juxtapositions of seemingly incompatible beliefs and values of practices invite engagement in epistemic and cultural mediations of classroom assessment. The case study demonstrates that the spaces and boundaries of professional learning can be defined by a teacher, and that the facilitation of epistemic and cultural mediation ensures that professional learning and knowledge production are both personal and polycentric within different classrooms.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alonzo, D. A., Lee, J., & Davison, C. (2015). A teacher’s assessment for learning competency framework: Development and application. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, B., & Cowie, B. (2001). The characteristics of formative assessment in science education. Science Education, 85(5), 536–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birman, B. F., Desimone, L., Porter, A. C., & Garet, M. (2000). Designing professional development that works. Educational Leadership, 57(8), 28–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2004). Working inside the black box: Assessment for Learning in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(1), 8–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Lessons from around the world: How policies, politics and cultures constrain and afford assessment practices. The Curriculum Journal, 16, 249–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackler, F., & Regan, S. (2009). Intentionality, agency, change: Practice theory and management. Management Learning, 40(2), 161–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brookhart, S. (2004). Classroom assessment: Tensions and intersections in theory and practice. The Teachers College Record, 106(3), 429–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brookhart, S. (in-press). Functions of formative assessment in teacher education. In D. J. Clandinin & J. Husu (Eds.), The Sage handbook of research on teacher education. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J. S. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carless, D. (2005). Prospects for the implementation of assessment for learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 12(1), 39–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day, C., & Sachs, J. (2004). Professionalism, performativity and empowerment: Discourses in the politics, policies and purposes of continuing professional development. In C. Fay & J. Sachs (Eds.), International handbook on the continuing professional development of teachers (pp. 3–32). Berkshire: McGraw-Hill International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, H. R., & Haigh, M. (2009). Changing mathematics teachers’ conceptions of assessment and feedback. Teacher Development, 13(2), 173–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, H. R., Hawe, E., & Parr, J. (2011). Enacting Assessment for Learning: The beliefs–practice nexus. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 18(4), 365–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duguid, P. (2005). ‘The art of knowing’: Social and tacit dimensions of knowledge and the limits of the community of practice. The Information Society, 21(2), 109–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, A. (2011). Building common knowledge at the boundaries between professional practices: Relational agency and relational expertise in systems of distributed expertise. International Journal of Educational Research, 50(1), 33–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eraut, M. (2004). Informal learning in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2), 247–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen and sustain teaching. The Teachers College Record, 103(6), 1013–1055.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, J. (2010). What is innovative about teacher assessment? In J. Gardner, W. Harlen, L. Hayward, & G. Stobart (Eds.), Developing teacher assessment (pp. 71–84). Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, J., Harlen, W., Hayward, L., & Stobart, G. (Eds.). (2010). Developing teacher assessment. Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guskey, T. R. (2001). Professional development and teacher change. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 8(3), 381–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayward, L., Priestley, M., & Young, M. (2004). Ruffling the calm of the ocean floor: Merging practice, policy and research in assessment in Scotland. Oxford Review of Education, 30(3), 397–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, M. F. (2011). ‘Getting traction’: Enablers and barriers to implementing assessment for learning in secondary schools. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 18(4), 347–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, M. F. (2016). Assessment for learning community: Learners, teachers and policy makers. In D. Wyse, L, Hayward, & J. Pandya (Eds.), The Sage handbook of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (Vol. 2, pp. 772–789). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hui, S. K. F., Brown, G. T., & Chan, S. W. M. (2017). Assessment for learning and for accountability in classrooms: The experience of four Hong Kong primary school curriculum leaders. Asia Pacific Education Review, 18(1), 41–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, M., Black, P., McCormick, R., Pedder, D., & Wiliam, D. (2006). Learning how to learn, in classrooms, schools and networks: Aims, design and analysis. Research Papers in Education, 21(2), 101–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klug, J., Bruder, S., Kelava, A., Spiel, C., & Schmitz, B. (2013). Diagnostic competence of teachers: A process model that accounts for diagnosing learning behavior tested by means of a case scenario. Teaching and Teacher Education, 30, 38–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koretz, D. (2003). Using multiple measures to address perverse incentives and score inflation. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 22(2), 18–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leong, W. S. (2017). Contextualising assessment for learning in Singaporean classrooms. In K. H. Tan, M. A. Heng, & C. Ratnam-Lim (Eds.), Curriculum leadership by middle leaders: Theory, design and practice (pp. 88–103). Abington: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, B., & Drummond, M. J. (2006). How teachers engage with assessment for learning: Lessons from the classroom. Research Papers in Education, 21(02), 133–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMillan, J. H. (2013). Why we need research on classroom assessment. In J. H. MacMillan (Ed.), Handbook of classroom assessment (pp. 3–16). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Opfer, V. D., & Pedder, D. (2011). Conceptualizing teacher professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 81(3), 376–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedder, D., & Opfer, V. D. (2012). Professional learning orientations: Patterns of dissonance and alignment between teachers’ values and practices. Research Papers in Education, 1(1), 1–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pope, N., Green, S. K., Johnson, R. L., & Mitchell, M. (2009). Examining teacher ethical dilemmas in classroom assessment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 778–782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, M., Rust, C., O’Donovan, B., & Handley, K. (2012). Assessment literacy: The foundation for improving student learning. London: Oxford Brookes University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Primary Education Review and Implementation Committee. (2009). Report of the primary education review and implementation committee. Singapore: Ministry of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. T., & Borko, H. (2000). What do new views of knowledge and thinking have to say about research on teacher learning? Educational Researcher, 29(1), 4–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratnam-Lim, C. T., & Tan, K. H. (2015). Large-scale implementation of formative assessment practices in an examination-oriented culture. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 22(1), 61–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, V. (1992). The agenda-setting dilemma in a constructivist staff development process. Teaching and Teacher Education, 8(3), 287–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sellars, W., Scharp, K., & Brandom, R. (Eds.). (2007). In the space of reasons. Selected essays of Wilfrid Sellars. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spinath, B. (2005). Akkuratheit der Einschätzung von Schülermerkmalen durch Lehrer und das Konstrukt der diagnostischen Kompetenz: Accuracy of teacher judgments on student characteristics and the construct of diagnostic competence. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 19(1/2), 85–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiggins, R. J. (1991). Assessment literacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 72(7), 534–539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiggins, R. J., & Bridgeford, N. J. (1985). The ecology of classroom assessment. Journal of Educational Measurement, 22(4), 271–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stobart, G. (2008). Testing times: The uses and abuses of assessment. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, C. (2016). Tensions and challenges in China’s education policy borrowing. Educational Research, 58(2), 195–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trittel, M., Gerich, M., & Schmitz, B. (2014). Training prospective teachers in educational diagnostics. In S. Krolak-Schwerdt, S. Glock, & M. Böhmer (Eds.), Teachers’ professional development (pp. 63–78). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Wei Shin Leong

Authors
  1. Wei Shin Leong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wei Shin Leong .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Heng Jiang

  2. The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Mary F. Hill

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Leong, W.S. (2018). Professional Learning of Classroom Assessment in Singapore: Understanding Epistemic and Cultural Mediations of Practices Through the Case of Pei Pei. In: Jiang, H., Hill, M. (eds) Teacher Learning with Classroom Assessment. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-9053-0_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-9053-0_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-9052-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-9053-0

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation