Supervisors info:
Βασίλης Τσάφος, Αναπληρωτής καθηγητής, Τμήμα Εκπαίδευσης και Αγωγής στην Προσχολική Ηλικία, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
The purpose of this research is to explore the objectives and the role of assessment
in pre-school education, as perceived in the pilot program for narrative assessment in kindergarten in an attempt to search for its inclusive dimension. All of the above are examined in correlation with the expansion of the forms of assessment used by pre-school teachers who participated in the aforementioned program in order to examine how the proposed forms are applied in practice and to determine the degree of their response to the ones formulated each time data that make up the educational framework.
The present is a qualitative study for the needs of which it was deemed appropriate that a semi structured interview is used as a data collection tool. More specifically, a pre-constructed guide of the semi-structured interview which will be organized into six thematic chapters. Additionally for the need of the current research, as data analysis method, the thematic analysis was chosen. Regarding the sample, a content analysis was carried out in the Pilot Teacher's Guide for Narrative Assessment at the Kindergarten (Institute for Educational Policy, Ministry of Education, 2017), while eight educators employed in preschool classes in various parts of Greece, participated in the interviews.
Through the findings of the current research, it is evident that the proposed teaching approaches for narrative assessment promote active learning, encourage the collaboration between teacher and student, enhance the autonomy of the latter, and thus contribute to the gradual acquisition of self-assessment skills. At the same time, assessment is emerging as a learning and reflective process where the child and the educator have a participatory role, which coincides with the abolition of the teacher-centered model, the respect for the "voice of the pupils" and the recognition of the importance of active involvement of children in the educational process. From the qualitative analysis of content of the given guide, it is still clear that the shift of thought and teaching from teaching to the average, to the effort to respond to the diversity and heterogeneity of the student population, not only for disabled children but also all pupils with different starting points, linguistic, religious, national, cultural etc. Therefore, the approach adopted, the alternative methods and tools proposed and, in general, the theoretical background that frames the present project responds to the new data of pedagogical theory and science on the inclusive assessment and equal education of all students. However, the existence of a separate chapter for the assessment of pupils with disabilities is in contradiction with the above findings.
The analysis of interview findings revealed that teachers used a combination of many different methods and techniques to assess the learning and development of their students, enabling them to develop a more complete picture of their development. The main objectives of their practices were the assessment of achievements and the evolution of children with emphasis on the process they followed each time, as well as the reflective evaluation of the role and the work of teachers. An important finding of the present study is their assumption that after the implementation of the pilot program they began to systematically monitor the development of children and to focus on data that they had not previously observed. However, their views on inclusive education appear confused and contradictory.
Keywords:
alternative methods of assessment, narrative assessment, inclusive education, inclusive assessment, preschool education
