Formative assessment as ‘formative pedagogy’ in Grade 3 mathematics

Abstract

Background: Formative assessment, as an integral component of teaching, has recently gained prominence in educational environments globally. Poor performances in mathematics by learners in early grades, and its negative effect on later learning, have been an ongoing concern in South African schools. Several former studies tend to generalise the pedagogical reasons for learners’ underperformance in Foundation Phase teaching.Aim: This case study of selected Grade 3 teachers examined how the teachers integrated formative assessment into their pedagogy, with the purpose of gaining insight into teachers’ understanding of the developmental aspects of learning in mathematics.Setting: This study was conducted at four schools in a selected district in the Gauteng Province.Methods: Data were mainly collected through focus group interviews and observations of at least three classroom sessions for each teacher of mathematics, thereby gaining an overview of their formative assessment practices.Results: This article reports on the two strongest themes to have emerged from the case study, which were teachers’ tokenistic use of ‘Assessment for Learning’ strategies and teachers’ awareness of learning processes and curriculum requirements.Conclusion: The study’s main conclusion was that teachers are likely to practise formative assessment more intuitively if they had a sound knowledge of children’s mathematical cognition and conceptual development. This study pointed out that formative assessment is a co-constructed activity involving the teacher, the learner and peers rather than a teacher-directed activity. The study recommends how continuous professional learning initiatives can design initiatives that integrate research-based knowledge of children’s learning of early grades mathematics.

The Relationship between Formative Assessment and Summative Assessment in Primary Grade Mathematics Classrooms

“…The concern of covering all the curricular objectives to prepare students for end-of-year summative assessment may influence teachers' formative assessment practices (Box et al, 2015;Govender, 2019).…”

Using meta-analysis to explore the transferability of education mid-range theories to Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger: Final academic report – Evidence synthesis

“…Likewise, Naylor & Sayed (2014), Moloi & Kanjee, (2017) explains that inadequate teacher preparation and support, large classrooms, lack of resources and entrenched cultural and pedagogical practices hamper the process of changing teaching styles in Africa. Govender (2019) argues that some teachers in South Africa who have completed Assessment for Learning trainings experience difficulties integrating formative assessment in their daily practice. This is because of the emphasis on 'assessment' rather than a pedagogy that is the focus of learning.…”

Examining What Influences Mathematics Teachers' Implementation of Formative Assessment

“…But one problem teachers have is that they do not know how to do assessments in the classroom (Ahmedi, 2019;Keskin et al, 2018). The same is true for teachers who understand their implementation but face challenges in implementing assessments due to time constraints where teachers must help students with learning difficulties (Alkan et al 2019), on top of being burdened with other tasks other than teaching (Govender, 2019). Furthermore, a lack of educational resources contributes to the impossibility of implementing teacher (Abdul Halim et al 2020).…”

“…Being ready to change with the changes that occur during the four studies is the most demanding thing to do because the teachers' deep, normal practice has lulled them into a sense of ease (Akiri et al, 2021). According to Govender (2019), low teacher awareness is linked to the significance of assessment because teachers do not want to consider the best alternatives for implementing change (Akiri et al, 2021) or trying to improve their ICT skills (Cunningham, 2021) to help facilitate the teachers' day-to-day responsibilities. Govender states that this is because teachers do not want to consider the importance of assessment.…”