Managing to care, the emotional dimensions of formative assessment: sustainability of teacher learner relationships in four case studies
2017
This study is concerned with how educators, and their students, in different adult
teaching and learning environments, engage in formative assessment and how
development of capacities to perform a more holistic formative pedagogy might enhance
educational processes potentially weakened by exclusive focus on rational processes
alone. This thesis suggests that formative assessment could be enriched by affective
approaches such as developing the use-of-self, emotional intelligence and relational
skills. The central argument proposes that lecturers in Higher Education, expected to
behave in emotionally neutral, predominantly rational, ways experience stressful
paradoxical demands that unintentionally generate suboptimal environments for take up
of feedback.
The emergent concept of formative pedagogy which promotes deliberate engagement
with emotions, feelings and mood to “refine principles of effective formative assessment,
identify gaps and gather further evidence about the potential of formative assessment
and feedback to support self-regulation” (Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick 2006:215) is
explored as one means of enhancing sustainable assessment for learning. It aims to
create and maintain reciprocal, collaborative tutor-learner relationships which generate
trust that feedback will enhance short term achievements and develop learner capacities
for self-regulation.
A significant factor likely to enhance conditions for sustainable formative assessment is
the promotion of teacher-learner relationships as caring collaborative spaces where
shared commitment to learning outcomes and processes are authentic rather than
emotionally neutral.
Four case studies, utilising mixed methodologies of observation, survey and interview
generate broad descriptors of manifestations and expressions of reciprocal caring
between teachers and learners in General Practice; 5Rhythms dance; Shaolin Kungfu
and undergraduate medical lectures. Comparison between them illuminates potential
staff-development needs and strategies for enabling medical (or other professional)
educators and students to maximise effective use-of-self.
The findings endorse the introduction of balanced epistemologies into ‘spiral
developmental curricula’ and the need for universities and medical communities of
practice to adapt away from ‘emotionally silent orthodoxies’. Concluding chapters
suggest staff development programmes could “filch” (Newman 2006) curriculum ideas
for educating educators in holistic formative pedagogies and promoting self-regulatory
learners, most likely to make use of feedback.
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