Consulting pupils on the assessment of their learning

The Consulting Pupils on the Assessment of their Learning (CPAL) project comprises three interrelated studies focusing on (1) the development of Annual Pupil profiles in NI in the context of giving pupils 'a voice' (Lundy, 2007); (2) students' perceptions of 'AfL classrooms'; and (3) teachers' and parents' perceptions of pupils increasing participation in assessment. This paper presents the main findings and educational implications of studies 2 and 3 which consulted pupils at key stage 3 (11-14 years). It identifies teachers', parents' and students' perceptions of the increasing pupil participation in the assessment of their own classroom learning. Preliminary findings of this twenty-one month study, completed at the end of February 2007, were presented in this ECER Children's Rights Network last year (see Leitch et al. 2006). This presentation updates some of the main findings for Key stage 3 pupils. The samples included approximately 200 students and a sample of their parents (n=180) from six post-primary schools in Northern Ireland (NI), as well as 11 teachers of different subjects (i.e. Arts, Maths, English, Geography and Science). All teachers were engaged in an in-service course to help them embed Assessment for Learning (AfL)-a pedagogical approach that emphasizes the use of formative assessment to help students take control of their own learning by being aware of where they are, 'where they need to go to improve, and how best to get there' (Gardner, 2006). It establishes that, where principles of AfL are embedded in practice, pupils can experience high levels of participation in their learning and assessment. However, the relationship between consultation and participation requires further clarification and there is a need is to promote greater consistency amongst teachers in understanding what consultation means from a rights-based perspective.

2003

out the context of Children's Rights in Education. Chapter Two outlines the methodology and Chapter Three presents the key messages from the children and young people we spoke with. These are organised into eight themes that emerged from the study with 'Children's Rights Challenges' identified for each theme.The final Chapter reflects on these key messages, puts forward recommendations and proposes some strategic issues for consideration. Further, section 6(1) states that pupils must be "given an opportunity to make their views known" about their school's annual development plans.

Children & Society, 2017

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child offers educators a comprehensive reference for the implementation of transformational teaching practices. Ratified by most nation states it presents a clear mandate for supporting a range of rights uniquely elaborated for children, yet is routinely ignored in the development of educational policy and provision. Considering the burgeoning educational interest in student voice and participation, this study explores the relevance and application of the convention to educational practice. This article argues that the UNCRC is particularly relevant in education contexts seeking to enable and sustain child participation and voice.

Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 2020

There has been a long-standing call for the participation of young people in decision making in school. However, research to date has mostly focused on pupil councils and is rarely conducted in areas of socioeconomic deprivation-the contexts for this study. In national examinations, the schools chosen had higher than average attainments given their catchments. The research sought to understand if and how young people would make a link between their participation rights and 'doing well' at school. Using mobile and visual methods, a situated, social-material approach was taken to data collection and analysis. We found participation opportunities were supportive in four arenas: formal curriculum, wider curriculum, decision making groups, and connections with the wider community. This framing provides a heuristic for rights-based participation in educational practice.

South African Journal of Childhood Education

2018

By allowing students to play an active role in the assessment of their work, can their perceptions and motivations be changed? This dissertation considers the impact of working collaboratively with primary school teachers and students to develop the skills needed to integrate student-led assessment into their daily practice, with the objective of analysing how this affects the students’ motivations and attitudes towards their work. Three teachers and the researcher, the Head of Primary, concertedly trained in how to develop student-led assessment across a 13-week trial that involved Year 4 students in an English curriculum international school in Malaysia. An experimental group comprising of 28 student participants engaged in three rounds of focus groups, while the three teacher participants engaged in weekly working focus groups as well as three interviews over the trial period. The findings suggest that students benefited from their involvement in student-led assessment since, at ...

International Studies in Sociology of Education, 2007

... Especially in relation to issues of curriculum and pedagogy, over-reliance on pupil views in decision-making could be seen as an example of what Muller and Moore have characterized as 'the excesses of voice discourses and, in particular, the dangers of invoking experience ...

Cambridge Journal of Education, 2016

One approach to children's rights in research is to adopt a methodology that focuses on eliciting children's perspectives. Ensuring representative participation from all children allows a diversity of contexts to be reflected in the results, and points to ways in which improvements can be made in specific settings. In cultural contexts where participation in decision-making is not a traditional role for children, their viewpoints are likely to provide results that highlight differences between cultural norms and children's rights, and can offer an important focus of dialogue among stakeholders. It is proposed that children's rights can therefore become integral to the whole process of a quantitative research project. This paper describes such an approach used in a Pacific Islands study, which investigated the quality of schooling through a probability-based sample survey of 1560 children in the first three years of formal education in 55 schools in Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Kiribati. As well as a right, inclusion of their viewpoints allows better decisions and policy relating to children; maximising their participation in the research process has therefore become an important focus in a number of studies aiming to improve policy for children, including in developing countries (