Camels, Koalas and Kangaroos Ahead

Moving from an assessment to a mastery measurement mindset

It would be odd, we can all agree, to find a sign warning of camels, koalas and kangaroos on South African roads, but we would (I hope) all agree that road signs are very much needed to help people along the way on their journey.

Feedback is much the same as road signs. When you are checking in on progress during the learning process you put up road signs for your student to follow. When you find "camels, koalas and kangaroos" in their efforts to understand new concepts, acquire skills and applying both, you add helpful road signs that support their learning while it is still a journey.

If I can leave that extended metaphor behind for a while and move on to what is really the essence here, I'd like to focus on the wombat in the room. Assessment.

When you are focused on assessing a final product the learning process becomes a thing you wait for to get finished. It becomes a challenge for you to overcome as students take time to complete the task or test set. Assessment-driven learning is frantic, stressful and focused only on putting a number or symbolic value on the quality of the final product. I don't care how carefully you balanced the Bloom's in your test or assignment, the mere fact that judgement is involved eliminates any Maslow in that equation.

Sadly, education systems, departments and reporting systems (and how parents were brought up) want us to do this to children. I was in a room not too long ago where Grade 12 exam papers were collected. It was pitiful. One bag, not even the size of a refuse bag mind you, containing what ostensibly represented the culmination of more than twelve years of learning. It saddened me.

There is an alternative, though, that will not eliminate the assessment side of things, but it has the potential of making it more humane and more relevant and lasting for you and your students.

If you shift your thinking from assessment focused to a mastery measurement mindset the whole system is upended because, you see, the focus is now on the learning process and not on the final product. The final product becomes a by-product of learning (and can still get a mark!).

Back to the analogy now: Road signs and journeys.

When you measure mastery along the learning path you really get to see how each child approaches new ideas and skills and you can give feedback that will support that child. This is how scaffolding became manageable for me as a languages teacher.

If your learning design allows for regular feedback opportunities you can observe the learning as it unfolds and you can quickly put up course correction signage to ensure that your student stays on the right track for success in mastery. Bespoke feedback!

The process looks something like this:

• Introduce the new concept, skills and expectations. Simply and clearly.

• Allow students to engage with it and formulate their own questions about what is to be understood, learned and done to provide proof of mastery.

• Reflect on what was understood and what was not (Feedback opportunity 1)

• Allow students to collect what they need to create the proof of mastery and that would make their learning journey visible to you and to them (choice boards are excellent tools for this). Your rubric should measure the understanding and skills application so the format should not be the focus and this allows them to choose! Allow them to explore the topic, sub-questions and the main question and especially that which they do not understand. You can curate sources or allow a bit of freedom.

• Let them plan their response. Visualising what they want to do and how they want to structure their content in their response. This is where you have the best opportunity to observe their learning, understanding and skills development. It is also the space where you can give the most relevant feedback.

• Allow them to hand in the planning when they are ready and give direction on the main deviations and misunderstandings. Celebrate the wins. Don't forget that. It motivates them to carry on and to engage with your suggestions.

• Next, have a pre-handing in reflection session as a class. Create a space where students feel free to share their learning experiences. What worked, what didn't work, where they had to change etc. Allow them one last revision opportunity. Having learned from their peers, they might want to make some final changes before handing in their final product.

• Finally, allow them to hand in the final product and give feedback on how you measured their understanding, new skills and the application of both and where they are in the learning journey. Give them some final pointers on the most crucial aspects not yet mastered and give them a new roadmap for the next learning journey.

I apply this in my English Classes. An example would be of the first term's two writing tasks. They had to write a review, evaluating the efficiency of the sources they were given in their overall Term Project. We followed the process of reflection and feedback as outlined above. Their marks were not all very successful. BUT. When they moved on to write their essays, on the concepts dealt with in that same project, their marks showed the learning that had occurred with overall improvement in writing skills and application of up to 20% in many cases.

• It works.

• It doesn't take more time.

• It isn't added to the 'real teaching'.

• It requires very careful planning to outline what must be understood, what must be learned and applied and letting them get on with it while you observe and course-correct along the way. (It also means you talk less and they work more).

• In this way, learning becomes an active, observable process instead of a one-size-fits-all recipe for percentage grading.

Think about it. Will you be replacing camels, koalas and kangaroos with zebras, buffalo and lions to ensure they reach their destinations? Or will you fine them for not reaching the right destination while using a map for another country...

Celri