Assessment and learning: Competence
He aromatawai me te ako: Kaiaka
Introduction - He kupu whakataki
Exemplars are examples of assessments that make visible learning that is valued so that the learning community (children, families, whānau, teachers, and beyond) can foster ongoing and diverse learning pathways.
Early Childhood Learning and Assessment Exemplar Project Advisory
Committee and Co-ordinators, 2002 (Emphasis added)
This is the second of three books of exemplars that ask the question “What difference does assessment make to children’s learning?” Assessments can make learning visible and foster learning that is valued. The learning is described as competence in line with the aspiration for children “to grow up as competent and confident learners and communicators” in Te Whāriki (1996, page 9). It is also consistent with the statement that educators should implement curriculum and assessment practices that “enhance their [the children’s] sense of themselves as capable people and competent learners” (Te Whāriki, 1996, page 30).
Book 1 in this series defines assessment for learning as “noticing, recognising, and responding”. The commentaries in documented assessments can make visible the identity of the child as a competent, confident learner. Children, families, whānau, and teachers can revisit the assessments to discuss the learning that they value, what they regard as “competence”, and how competence is enhanced.
One of the parents at an early childhood centre, interviewed by the teacher about her experience of writing learning stories for her son Tom’s folder, said:
Cause you just get on with ordinary everyday life, and you start taking things for granted about them, whereas this sort of thing [being invited to contribute to the assessment folder] makes you stop and really look, and think about, “oh ... yes that’s really interesting”. Or that’s quite a big learning step for them, by doing what they did, or what they said.
Radford, 2001, page 24
One of the stories she wrote was about Tom’s perseverance as he made a card for his nan in which he wanted to draw a “gust of wind”. As such stories are read back to Tom, he is likely to develop a sense of himself as a capable person and a competent learner. This awareness will impact on his learning.
Te Whāriki upholds the right for Māori to have a voice and be visible in early childhood education. At the 2001 Hui Taumata Mātauranga, Mason Durie introduced a framework for Māori educational achievement. He explained that:
In order to reach the three goals: to live as Māori, to participate as citizens of the world, and to enjoy good health and a high standard of living, education must be guided by sound principles. Some principles go almost without saying – treating students with respect, establishing good relationships between school and home, acknowledging the dignity and uniqueness of all learners.
Mason Durie identified three overarching principles for education: the principle of best outcomes, the principle of integrated action, and the principle of indigeneity. His goals and principles also reinforce the importance of children developing a sense of themselves as capable people and competent learners. Research supports this claim: in a comprehensive survey of research on assessment for learning, Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam (1998) state that “There is evidence from many studies that learners’ beliefs about their capacity as learners can affect their achievement” (page 24).
The New Zealand Competent Children project used the following criteria to describe competence:
We called this the Competent Children project because we wanted to look at outcomes for children as broadly as we could. We included ten ‘competencies’ – particular combinations of knowledge, skills and dispositions – that seemed to underpin successful learning, growth to adulthood, and adulthood itself, and which were consistent with Te Whāriki, the New Zealand ECE curriculum, then in draft form. These are: literacy (reading, writing), mathematics, logical problem solving, communication (receptive and expressive language use), perseverance, social skills with peers, social skills with adults, individual responsibility (self-management), curiosity and motor skills.
Wylie and Thompson, 2003, pages 70-71
Learning stories in PDF format
Unfortunately, because of publishing constraints, we are only able to provide the learning stories to you in PDF format.
You should be able to read PDF documents in your web browser. If you have any problems opening a PDF, a number of downloadable PDF readers are listed on Wikipedia or you can email web services for help.
A summary of the exemplars for Assessment and Learning: Competence follows:
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Not happy with the wheel
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Sahani's drawing
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Dinosaur exploration
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"I did it!"
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Growing potatoes
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Readers, carers, and friends
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Immy dancing
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"Some boys are nice, and some girls are nice"
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"Did they have alarms at your centre?"
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The "mooshy gooey" bus
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Skye in a box
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Alex the writer
For more information, or to request a hard copy of this exemplar book, please email the ministry.
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