Ei-iE

The teacher-led learning circles for formative assessment have enabled educators to build new forms of resistance to standardised assessments and achieve greater pedagogical and professional autonomy.

Teachers from Brazil, South Korea, and Côte d’Ivoire shared their insights during the session on Reclaiming Teachers’ Professional Autonomy at the 10th Education International World Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Participants discussed their experience of using pedagogical activism and pedagogy of hope as tools to stimulate the interest of their students and enhance the learning process.

The project aims to provide teachers with tools and support to enable them to identify and establish effective teacher-led formative assessment practices that can be disseminated within and across trade unions. The project is being implemented in Brazil, Uruguay, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Malaysia, South Korea, and Switzerland.

Nadine Molloy, member of Education International’s Executive Board and a trustee and former President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), moderated the discussion. “This session gives us the opportunity to share practical experiences on how to use pedagogical activism and a pedagogy of hope to build mutually supportive and sustaining communities of practice, and how unions can shape the narrative around this crucial educational endeavour,” said Molloy.

Heleno Araújo, President of CNTE Brazil and EI Vice President for Latin America, opened the first panel discussion. “With formative assessment we can question standardised assessment, with formative assessment we can reclaim the autonomy of teachers, with formative assessment we can build another culture in our schools, we can build knowledge,” explained Araújo, presenting the project’s development in Brazil.

Andjou Andjou, General Secretary of the SNEPPCI in Côte d’Ivoire, shared his country’s experience in implementing the project. “Formative assessment allows for dynamic interaction, day-to-day interaction, in which the teacher is present at all stages of the learning process. It is not simply a matter of assessing learning at the end of the school year, but accompanying the whole process, so that nothing needs to be remedied, because the teacher is always present,” said the Ivorian union leader.

Hyunsu Hwang, International Director of the KTU (Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union), shared information on the limitations and the persecution of trade union work in South Korea, with the dismissal of teachers and the revocation of the union’s legal status. “Teachers are professionals, just like doctors who look at a new case together to find the right solution; in the same way, we as teachers can work together to improve our practice,” Hwang explained, arguing for greater autonomy for teachers.

Mary Metcalfe, Professor at the University of Johannesburg, welcomed the interventions from the panellists and praised the work of teachers involved in the project.

Towards greater professional autonomy

The second part of the breakout session featured contributions from three Brazilian teachers who gave a brief overview of the key aspects of the formative assessment circles and how the project has helped them secure greater professional autonomy and leadership roles.

Luciane Machado Da Silva Guimarães, an Indigenous woman from the Terena people and teacher at the Ramão Martins municipal Indigenous school in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, spoke about the relevance of the project for her teaching work and her community. “Our ancestors went through a great struggle to be able to get here, we went through university to get here, but our leaders never set foot in a classroom, they never went to school. It is essential that I be here, it is essential that I be here to represent and give voice to our leaders,” she said. Da Silva also emphasised the importance of collective work in reclaiming autonomy.

Maria José Mariano, an educator at the Dona Maria Augusta municipal school in Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, explained how standardised assessment stifles teacher creativity and autonomy in the teaching and learning process. She also stressed the importance of education unions supporting formative assessment to give greater autonomy to teachers.

Francismére Rodrigues Depiere Grandis, a teacher at the Germano Lazaretti municipal school in Campos de Júlio, Mato Grosso, Brazil, talked about the project’s early days at her school, with families waiting to receive traditional assessment marks, and how they went on to adapt to the formative assessment process. “First grade students, aged five, were learning to read and at the same time learning to assess themselves, recognising their limitations and contributing to the teaching-learning process,” said Rodrigues, on the project’s implementation.

The breakout session also included round table discussions in which the participants shared information on the education and assessment policies in their respective countries.

For more information on the teacher-led learning circles for formative assessment project, click here.