About the project
The main objective of this research project is to investigate how knowledge is developed in the teaching profession, by focussing on the objectual and discursive processes through which teachers integrate new forms of student assessment into their existing practice. Empirically, the research is based on video and participant observations of teachers working in teams, collected from three lower secondary schools in Norway, as well as semi-structured interviews with teachers, school leaders, and employees at the local education authorities. Analytical focus is placed, firstly, on how ‘assessment for learning’, as a concept that teachers are requested to put into practice through their participation in a project led by the Local Education Authorities, both mediates and is mediated by practice, and, secondly, on the material and discursive resources that teachers draw upon as part of the process of integrating assessment for learning into their daily practice. The research is situated within a socio-cultural perspective which emphasizes the situated character of learning and the role that symbolic and discursive resources play in mediating thought and action (Vygotsky 1978; Wertsch 1991; Säljö 2006), and also draws on the perspectives of Karen Knorr Cetina (1999; 2001).
The research is part of the LIKE project, and is financed by the Faculty of Education, University of Oslo.
Research category
Basic Resaerch