BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE FIELD STUDY
1.7 Rationale of the study
The current study is deemed necessary from two perspectives: (1) in terms of curriculum provision and based on the personal experience of the researcher as a teacher educator in a college of education; and (2) to address the gap in the research on mathematics education.
1.7.1 Curriculum provision and personal experience as a mathematics teacher educator Teacher education in Ghana started as far back as 1848, at Akropong-Akuapem in the Eastern region, with the intention of preparing human resources for evangelism by the Basel Mission (Asare- Danso, 2014). Teacher education has undergone enormous changes since independence.
For example, the Anamuah-Mensah Committee of 2002 was formed to review the educational system in response to societal needs. Its recommendations brought changes, especially in the teacher training system, by calling for an upgrading of teacher training institutions to colleges of education.
Unfortunately, the reform did not meet the standard of education required in the country.
Therefore, in 2015 the Transforming Teacher Education and Learning programme was launched by the then government, with technical and financial support from the British Government. The programme was aimed at transforming the delivery of pre-service teacher education in Ghana by improving the quality of teaching at the teacher colleges. It saw the creation of two policy tools:
1) the National Teachers Standard (NTS) for pre-service teachers; and 2) the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework (NTECF) to guide teacher educators, in-service teachers, pre- service teachers, and other stakeholders in the education sector. This saw a restructuring of the content and the assessment regime of the teacher colleges. Some of the major issues relating to assessment contained in these documents are as follows:
1) Teacher educators are to keep regular, detailed, and legible records of students’ assessment, both ongoing formative and summative assessment, and use it to inform planning and teaching on a daily basis.
2) Teacher educators need to prepare pre-service teachers to become assessment literate, so that they understand and apply the principles and procedures for sound classroom assessment of learning (summative) and assessment for learning (formative).
12
3) Pre-service teachers also need to know how to use the information from their assessment to support their learning.
The provisions in the NTS and the NTECF are consistent with the position of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (2000). The NCTM postulates that assessment should be more than merely a test at the end of instruction to see how students perform under special conditions; instead, it should be an integral part of instruction that informs and guides teachers as they make instructional decisions (NCTM, 2000, p. 3). As evident in the policy, there is a strong emphasis on FA to enhance teaching and learning, which suggests that classroom practices should reflect what is stated in the policy. Although the curriculum and national standards for teachers’
colleges in Ghana stipulate the inclusion of FA, this does not necessarily mean that this is implemented. Therefore, this study aims to explore MTEs’ knowledge and implementation practices of FA when preparing pre-service teachers to become assessment literate.
Mathematics teacher educators facilitate the teaching and learning of mathematics (Zaslavsky, 2009). As a mathematics educator and an assessment officer for the Mathematics and Information and Communication Technology disciplines, I had the opportunity to be directly involved in the planning and organisation of assessment activities in one of the teacher training colleges. Through my experience as a mathematics educator and my involvement in assessment issues over the past six years, I have observed that although teacher educators engage in assessment activities, the emphasis is on assessment of learning instead of assessment for learning as specified in the curriculum policy. The major issue with facilitation of mathematics is that there is a great deal of focus and attention on summative assessment, with little emphasis on FA practices and strategies which have the potential to help and improve students’ learning outcomes.
This situation is similar to that shared by Noori, Shafie, Mashwani, and Tareen (2017), who studied Afghan English as a foreign language (EFL). Lecturers’ (teacher educators’) assessment practices in the classroom were examined and it was found that lecturers practice summative assessment more than FA in their classes. Their study focused on EFL teacher educators, while this study focused on MTEs to understand their knowledge and practices regarding FA.
13
1.7.2 Research gap on formative assessment in mathematics education
‘Formative assessment’ is currently a widespread term in the education sector and is considered to be one of the strategies used in enhancing students’ achievement. Emerging studies have indicated that the practice of FA is well understood and implemented in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and many more (Black & Wiliam, 1998a; Cowie & Bell, 1999; McMillan, 2007b). However, FA has been misunderstood and its implementation is posing a challenge in countries whose assessment practices have predominantly been examination–oriented, with emphasis placed on students’ grades instead of assessment for learning, and Ghana is no exception here. Kanjee (2009) observed that teachers still face challenges in implementing FA in the classroom, because there is still a major influence of summative assessment on FA. Kanjee and Mthembu (2015) conducted a study on Foundation Phase teachers’ assessment literacy in South Africa, which showed that Grade 1, 2 and 3 Foundation Phase teachers have very low understanding of FA. Husain (2013) observed that FA implementation in the classroom may be compromised if teachers lack knowledge on the usage of FA techniques.
In Ghana most earlier studies in the field of assessment investigated the general assessment practices of teachers, with only glimpses of FA. For example, Oduro (2015) explored teachers’
assessment practices in the mathematics classroom and observed that in-service teachers use both summative and FA during mathematics lessons, with summative assessment being the main form of assessment technique. A review of literature on this phenomenon in the context of Ghana has shown that limited studies have been conducted in this area and specifically in mathematics.
Oduro-Okyireh et al. (2015) studied high school teachers’ FA practices in the Ashanti Mampong Municipality. A total of 80 in-service teachers participated in the study and the authors found that about half of them lacked a conception of FA and its sub-concepts. As in other countries, studies in Ghana focused on in-service teachers at school level, not on MTEs at college or university level.
One could argue that in-service teachers tend to practice what they have been exposed to as teacher trainees. However, without empirical research one cannot be certain that prior to being in-service teachers, pre-service teachers are exposed to FA practices or not. This study therefore aims to explore MTEs’ knowledge and practices of FA.
14
This study aimed to add to the body of knowledge about teachers’ knowledge and practices of FA, but from a different dimension by looking at teacher educators’ knowledge and practices, which have not been explored much in the literature. As mentioned, studies in this area are limited in Ghana, even though policies emphasise the inclusion of FA in teaching and learning. Little is known about instructors’ knowledge and practices in implementing what is purported in the policy.
The few studies conducted in Ghana on teacher educators’ knowledge of FA focused on social science and English but not on mathematics. Bordoh, Bassaw, and Eshun (2013) explored the evaluation of pre-service teachers’ learning using FA in social studies. Their study focused on FA techniques which teacher educators used to assess pre-service teachers in social studies. Ankomah and Oduro (2004) focused on challenges lecturers experience in attempting to promote students’
learning through FA in English.
While there is a growing literature on teachers’ assessment practice, there is dearth of studies on teachers’ understanding and practices of FA in mathematics. Therefore, this study will add to the literature and provide new knowledge about teacher educators’ understanding of FA and its influence on their practice in mathematics modules.