Reflect on the way that the culture of performativity’ or performance assessment as discussed in your articles and the podcast are linked to ethic
Topic 3: Contemporary Issues and Debates in Education Policy
We will explore NAPLAN as a case of where a major policy initiative has had unintended effects, and also canvasses the issues of performativity and accountability.
NAPLAN is a national assessment regime of children’s literacy and numeracy achievements. These issues of performativity, and accountability are areas where there has been a lot of policy action over the last decade, resulting in the production of standards for teachers, benchmarks for children’s achievement and other ‘technologies’ that standardise and universalise education experiences. Inevitably, these tools enable achievements to be measured and accounted for. However, they often have unintended effects which can be counter-productive. Some of the unintended consequences have been documented by research. They include instances where teachers feel constrained to focus their teaching efforts on learning and skills that will be ‘tested’, and where engaging parents in the education process becomes narrowly focused on their child’s, and the schools performances. The research literature also highlights how universal tools can be culturally inappropriate and lead to false understandings.
The audio recorded by Professor Stephen Ball that you are asked to listen to as part of your readings includes a compelling and chilling example of unintended consequences of an ‘audit culture’ in the health arena that certainly gives pause for thought. This is included as a useful counterpoint to education examples.
Readings
Sawyer, Singh, Woodrow, Downs et al ( 2007) Robust Hope and Teacher Education Policy. Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education 35 (4) 227-242
Klenowski, V & Wyatt-Smith, C. (2012) The impact of high stakes testing: the Australian story Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. 19 (1) 65-79
Prof Stephen Ball, Editor of Journal of Education Policy talks about assessment and teaching to the test.
This podcast is Professor Ball’s response the the following question:
QUESTION: One of the most conspicuous developments in education policy over the last ten years has been the rise and impact of ‘performativity’ or performance assessment as a way of improving the accountability of teachers and schooling. You have described performativity as “a culture or a system of terror” that can be enormously stressful and time-consuming. What do you feel are the key benefits and dangers of increased testing and assessment of teachers?