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Working within the Zone of Proximal Development: Formative Assessment as Professional Development
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Ash, Doris Levitt, Karen E. |
| Copyright Year | 2003 |
| Abstract | Professional development efforts in science education have often emphasizedthe workshop experience, where teachers learn new skills in order to infuse theirpractice with current thinking. These “one size fits all” (Ball & Cohen, 1999)experiences seldom are situated within an ongoing context of professional practice.Ball and Cohen suggest that teacher learning is often seen as “either somethingthat happens as a matter of course from experience or as a product of training in aparticular methodology or curriculum” (p.4). They further argue that we need“carefully constructed and empirically validated theories of teacher learning thatcould inform teacher education, in roughly the same way that cognitive psychologyhas begun to inform the education of school children” (p. 4).In this paper, using a Vygotskian theoretical framework and the zone ofproximal development (zpd) as a core feature, we take the view that teachers whostrategically and intentionally participate in formative assessment practices canundergo profound transformation in their professional growth. We argue thatformative assessment involves individual and mutual participatory appropriationof learning products (Brown, Ash, Rutherford, Nakagawa, Gordon, & Campione,1993; Griffin, Newman, & Cole, 1989; Hickey, 2001; Moschkovich, 1989) as partof joint productive activity (Tharp & Gallimore, 1989) within the zone of proximaldevelopment (Vygotsky, 1934/1986). We propose a trajectory of teacherdevelopment as support for this claim, and present as evidence two case stories,taken from different geographies and contexts.Understanding teaching as mutual transformation demands a rich, powerfultheoretical framework. The approach offered by Vygotsky (1934/1986) and bysubsequent researchers who rely on Vygotsky (Brown, 1992; Brown & Campione,1992; Rogoff, 1995, 1998; Jones, Rua & Carter, 1998; Tharp & Gallimore, 1989;Wells, 1999) views learning and teaching as a sociocultural process in which theinteraction between the participants is the focus. Vygotsky considered the teacher-student relationship transformative for both students and teachers (Rogoff, 1995,2001; Tharp & Gallimore, 1989;Wells, 1999) but was concerned more with theactivities of the learner in joint interactions.Formative assessment, also called assessment to assist learning, has gainedmuch attention over the past decade, especially since the publication of Black & |
| Starting Page | 23 |
| Ending Page | 48 |
| Page Count | 26 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1023/A:1022999406564 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://people.ucsc.edu/~dash5/publications/pubs/ash_lev.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://people.ucsc.edu/~dash5/publications/pubs/ash_lev.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1023/A%3A1022999406564 |
| Volume Number | 14 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
