This is a big topic of debate at the moment. On both the Education 2020 and  ACfE wiki’sthere is some very reasoned and cogent argument about the construction of both new models and new concepts for assessment. I think the form that this takes is vital to the success, not only of ACfE, but also to the education system we build for this new information age. The assessment we define will play a big part in shaping the change agenda. I’ve spoken at conferences about this change agenda on a number of occasions and draw very much on the work of Charles Leadbeater and Stephen Heppell to set the scene. I find this slide from Stephen particularly helpful in directing my own thinking on this, as, to me, it suggests a shift away from 19/20th century models of knowledge transmission (teaching) on the left of the slide towards a much more learner-centred approach shown on the right.

Of course, this is representative of a general cultural shift in society(patient centred medicine, the  modus operandi  of today’s health care system is another example) perhaps reflecting  the shift from a strict hierarchical system where information and knowledge were the preserve of the privileged few to today’s more egalitarian environment where nothing is really more than a few clicks away. Paulo Freire in his seminal work The Pedagogy of the Oppressed made this point when he wrote about dialogue and communication leading to real education. Perhaps Freire could not have predicted the immense paradigm shift we have seen over the past ten years or so as the world has embraced the digital age, and the effect this has had not only on the way we all communicate but on how much communication we do compared to just a few short years ago. And with this in mind, it follows that the purpose of education has to change also to one which equips everyone, not just school pupils, with the skills to search for and handle information appropriate to our individual and collective needs. How we assess the efficacy of this education will determine, I think, the shape of society for many years to come as the culture of assessment, for good or ill, pervades any education system or approach both directly and indirectly.

I’ve been firmly of the opinion that this needs to be school-based, at least in compulsory education. I even wrote about this (based on a study visit to Finland last year) in TESS. Discussion, debate, and reading over the course of the past year or so has better informed my own viewpoint, and I do agree with both Joe Wilson and Gordon Brown that the impetus for change has to come from the bottom up. Teachers in schools do need to be convinced, sold on, persuaded, etc etc that this shift away from structured exams and rushed courses is a good, even desirable thing. This takes people out of the comfort zones of the arrangements document  dominated world which we perhaps have inhabited for far too long and it’s not going to be an easy shift to make.

Maybe there’s a sort of halfway house then ? Could we structure exams to test content in subjects which are based on skills of information and knowledge retrieval, analysis and evaluation of this information, and the coherence and relevance of its use in relation to the subject being examined? These might be open-book tests where laptops/net books, texts and even mobile phones and Twitter could be used perhaps. These are, after all, the ways in which we access information in everyday life. Could not examinations reflect this ? Yes, this would need work on a set of course arrangements documents with more emphasis on sources of information and search and analysis skills, as well as careful restructuring of questions, but the SQA are ideally placed to undertake these reforms in conjunction with colleagues nationwide.

A move towards e-assessment is going to have to look at innovative ways of demonstrating the 21st century skills. This will maybe involve our students doing such things as hosting on-line or discussion forums, maintaining a web-log, managing a collaborative Wiki, filming and editing a video or scripting and recording a series of podcasts, recording interviews, creating animated storyboards, organising a web-conference, and maintaining an on-line e-portfolio containing referencing and links as well as evidence of learning.  The  Random Activity Generator created by the amazing and inspirational John Davitt is an excellent  and creative way of assessing students which I’m using more and more in Biology and Science. And yes, again, the exam body would be ideally placed to provide guidance to schools on assessing this work and exemplars of good practice. The portfolio of evidence if maintained on-line is ideal for moderation, suggestions and advice, creates a progression through assessment tasks and more to the point, demonstrates real contextual learning rather than good memory as the current exams are slanted towards by their very nature.

It’s going to need a collective will to achieve this, all or in part, and it won’t be an overnight happening. Teachers and schools as well as learners need to be convinced of the merits and the fairness of the changes. Issues of inclusion need to be addressed, but surely the terror and inappropriateness the annual examination system holds for many (including those with special educational needs) is a good starting point.

The change agents in this process have to be educators who believe in the changes, and who have made them work in classrooms up and down the country. They need to be able to get out and about to work with colleagues demonstrating the benefits of the changes and the whole continuous and e-assessment ideas/exemplars.

This approach could work. Small islands of excellence around the country would soon become continents of good practice. Peter Gabriel put it very well in the words to his song about Steven Biko. He wrote…

You can blow out a candle
But you can’t blow out a fire
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher

Lots of candles of course, soon make a fire.

The song finishes with another message very apt for this issue…

And the eyes of the world are
watching now….

Mass communication in the digital age means that the eyes of the world are indeed watching. This offers unparalleled opportunity to engage with stakeholders more easily and more often than ever before. Scotland can be a world leader in 21st century assessment given the collective willpower and actions of those who are committed to reforming education to make it fit for purpose for a modern and dynamic changing society.