THE PARADOX OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT: A CHALLENGE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Abstract
ABSTRACT. There are at least two very different conceptions of competence at play on the landscape of formal education, best defined in terms of what is known collectively and what is known subjectively. Teachers are forced to attend to each of these in their challenge to meet both the demands of a fixed school curriculum and the needs of the individual children with their varied understandings, backgrounds, and interests who make up a class. We outline these two contrasting notions of competence here, including their associated epistemological, pedagogical, psychological, and assessment implications. This approach shows how classroom assessment is caught in a paradox: it attempts to serve competing purposes that are intimately bound to alternative conceptions of competence. RÉSUMÉ. Il existe au moins deux conceptions radicalement différentes de la compétence dans le paysage de l'éducation formelle, que l'on pourrait définir sous l'angle de ce qui est connu collectivement et de ce qui est connu subjectivement. Les enseignants doivent en tenir compte afin de satisfaire à la fois aux exigences d'un cursus scolaire prédéterminé et aux besoins des différents élèves qui composent la classe, aux connaissances, antécédents et intérêts variés. Nous insistons ici sur ces deux conceptions opposées de la compétence, notamment sur leurs répercussions connexes sur le plan de l'épistémologie, de la pédagogie, de la psychologie et de l'évaluation. Cette démarche démontre que l'évaluation en classe est un véritable paradoxe: elle cherche à atteindre des objectifs conflictuels qui sont intimement liés aux différentes conceptions de la compétence.Downloads
Published
2001-01-01
How to Cite
Katz, S., Earl, L., & Olson, D. (2001). THE PARADOX OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT: A CHALLENGE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 36(001). Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/8551
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