Reflective questions & References
He pātai hei whakaaro iho & Ngā āpitihanga

Reflective Questions

• What do we understand by "assessment for learning"?
• In what way do the metaphors for learning in Hirini Melbourne's E Tipu e Rea relate to the assessment practice in our setting?
• In what way might assessment for learning in early childhood settings support Mason Durie’s broad goals of education for Māori?
• How does the description of assessment for learning as "noticing, recognising, and responding" compare with our understanding of it?
• To what extent are our assessment practices designed to be “for learning”? How do we use assessment to enrich the children’s learning?
• How is the sharing of undocumented noticing, recognising, and responding supported in our early childhood setting?
• How do our assessment practices help the children to see themselves as competent and confident learners?
• In what ways do our assessment practices highlight the learning going on in the everyday events and activities that children experience?
• How do we acknowledge that children's multiple learning pathways are frequently uncharted and unpredictable?
• How do we reflect the complexity of the children’s learning in our assessment practices?

References

• Broadfoot, Patricia (2000). “Assessment and Intuition.” In The Intuitive Practitioner: On the Value of Not Always Knowing What One Is Doing, ed. Terry Atkinson and Guy Claxton. Buckingham: Open University Press.
• Carr, Margaret (2001). Assessment in Early Childhood Settings: Learning Stories. London: Paul Chapman.
• Cowie, Bronwen (2000). “Formative Assessment in Science Classrooms”. PhD thesis, The University of Waikato.
• Crooks, Terry (2002). Assessment, Accountability and Achievement: Principles, Possibilities and Pitfalls. Keynote address presented at the twenty-fourth annual conference of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education, Palmerston North, 5–8 December 2002.
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). “Literacy and Intrinsic Motivation”. Daedalus, Spring, pp. 115–140.
• Donaldson, Margaret (1992). Human Minds: An Exploration. London: Penguin.
• Drummond, Mary Jane (1993). Assessing Children’s Learning. London: David Fulton Publishers.
• Durie, Mason (2001). A Framework for Considering Māori Educational Advancement. Opening address to the Hui Taumata Mātauranga, Tūrangi/Taupō, 24 February.
• Durie, Mason (2003). Te Pae Māhutonga: A Navigational Guide for the Promotion of Secure Identity and Best Outcomes for Māori Children. Palmerston North: Te Mata o te Tau, Academy for Māori Research and Scholarship, Massey University.
• Kelly, Vic (1992). “Concepts of Assessment: An Overview”. In Assessment in Early Childhood Education, ed. Geva M. Blenkin and A. V. Kelly. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
• Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa/Early Childhood Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
• Papert, Seymour (1993). The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
• Perrenoud, Philippe (1991). “Towards a Pragmatic Approach to Formative Evaluation”. In Assessment of Pupil Achievement: Motivation and School Success, ed. P. Weston. Report of the Educational Research Workshop, Liege, September 1989. Rockland, Mass.: Swets and Zeitlinger.
• Wells, Gordon (1999). Dialogic Inquiry: Towards a Sociocultural Practice and Theory of Education. New York: Cambridge University Press.