Assessment
In this section, we identify approaches to assessment that nurture belonging through meaningful, compassionate interactions and practices. We examine assessment through a relational lens, and reimagine assessment policies and practices with compassion at their heart. What if assessment is centred on respect, trust and care? What happens if we reduce power dynamics and enable students to co-create the rules? If we fully recognise and attempt to alleviate the emotional harm for staff and students, we can nurture belonging for all.
Assessment
Assessment is traditionally hierarchal and competitive which is in stark contrast to the relational and affective dimension of fostering belonging. Dr Jesse Stommel highlights how the premise of assessment in Higher Education pits students against one another, reduces student work to a metric, and implicitly tells students they are not trusted. He argues that assessment mechanisms typically start from a place of suspicion, whereby we don’t trust the integrity of students work, or students own understanding of their learning. Instead our processes reinforce that our judgement as academics is the only one that matters. This sits uncomfortably with belonging attributes of feeling respected, valued and that you matter.
We have been researching the paradoxes and tensions of assessment and belonging in our QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project with Glasgow School of Art and Leeds Arts University. The project, Belonging through Assessment: Pipelines of Compassion began in June 2021 and aims to identify approaches to assessment that nurture belonging through meaningful, compassionate policies and practices. Our research has three areas of focus: grading, whole self and feedback.
Grading
We explore alternative forms of assessment to letter grades as compassionate practice. Including pass/fail assessment and other minimal grading scales. And assessment that centers self-evaluation and metacognition to engage students as experts in their own learning.
In this podcast about pass/fail assessment in arts higher education, we explore the potential of pass/fail as a compassionate alternative to letter grades. Prof. Sam Broadhead, Dr Neil Currant, Peter Hughes and Dr Kate Mori discuss the possibilities and challenges in changing practice and policies from the perspective of staff, students and the wider institution.
Dr Jesse Stommel writes extensively about ungrading and alternative assessment methods on his blog: https://www.jessestommel.com/ungrading-an-introduction/
There are a range of approaches that can be explored to distribute power and encourage compassionate interactions in assessment:
Negotiate grades with students through dialogue (Tracey Waller)
Talk about the emotional impacts of grades (Dr Jesse Stommel)
Focus on process and reflection rather than product (Dr Maha Bali)
Use self-assessment to encourage students to recognise their success and disrupt power hierarchies (Dr Juuso Henrik Nieminen)
Whole Self
Enabling students to bring their whole selves to their assessment can support a sense of belonging by valuing lived experiences. As Dr Brené Brown reminds us, belonging occurs when we present our authentic selves to the world, express our truths and be acknowledged for it.
We believe it is important to engage in a continual questioning of whose ideas and practices are valued, and whose are not. We can do this in every aspect of assessment practice; from the project briefs we write, to the feedback we offer, and the way that we mark. As Jess Moody reminds us, histories and lived experiences, both included and omitted are an implicit signal of who belongs. Eurocentric, heteronormative and ableist centred assessments lead to feelings of exclusion and alienation.
We can give students the choice to work on topics that relate to their personal interest and goals. This could come in the form of negotiated assessment, or optionality and flexibility within assessment briefs. Janine Francois shares her approach to encouraging students to share their whole self through assessment. In this talk, Janine reflects on how heritage, identity and personal practice can be valued within the art school.
Feedback
The words we choose affect students’ identities. We reflect on whether we give feedback similarly to students who are getting higher grades compared to those getting lower grades. Prof. Yusef Waghid writes about how teachers show compassion towards students when they endeavour to see things from the students’ perspective. It can be affirmative to think about what the individual student is trying to accomplish, their interests and their goals. Dr Lynn Underwood’s definition of compassionate love is a particular kind of love that centres on the good of others. When giving assessment feedback/ feedforward we can, as Dr bell hooks explains, demonstrate care and connect to the soul of our students. This does not mean feedback has to be positive – if educators don’t explain how a student can improve, then this can cause confusion and anxiety. Dr Pat Tunstall and Prof. Caroline Gipps describe assessment feedback as lighting the way forward.
