Making Sense Through Participation

In this chapter we discuss the issue of social differences in relation to learning. In theories on co-operative learning or collaborative learning social differences are treated as characteristics of individual learners. The focus on learning as a social process is primarily elaborated in terms of interaction between pupils and the combined construction of knowledge. Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, Lave & Wenger), however, understands ‘social’ not only in terms of knowledge/meaning being constructed in interaction with others, but also in terms of the cultural practices/activities informing these interaction processes. Learning can be understood as increasing participating in communities of practice. As social differences are an intrinsic part of the culture in which students are learning to participate, these are also an inherent aspect of learning processes in schools. Students learn to participate in practices in different ways, depending on their social position, and thus develop distinguished cultural identities. In this chapter we elaborate on this tenet, using examples from various empirical research projects on learning in secondary education. We not only show how social differences in the cultural practices that underpin learning influence what is learned by whom, but also explore the consequences of this perspective for the pedagogical space of the school

Becoming familiar with competency-based student assessment: an evaluation of workshop outcomes

The identification and specification of competency-based standards in speech-language pathology has provided practitioners, educators, employers, and government regulators with information and guidance. This paper reports the outcomes of workshops that provided familiarization with the new competency-based assessment tool, COMPASS®, which was introduced for the assessment of speech-language pathology (SLP) students across all 13 SLP professional preparation programs in Australia during 2007. An anonymous evaluation was administered before and after the first eight familiarization workshops held nationally, involving 240 clinical educators. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, and qualitative data were entered into NVivo qualitative analysis software for content analysis. Post-workshop, results indicated partial or full uptake of the main concepts involved in the new approach to assessment. Least uptake was observed for the need for direct observation of competence in workplace performance. Qualitatively, post-workshop, formative assessment was more apparent within student goals formulated in response to a hypothetical scenario. A possible contributor to this outcome is suggested to be the alignment between the tool and the professional community of practice, due to the collaborative process of its development. Research into the longer term impact of the new assessment in the context of everyday practice is suggested