Assessing learning and well-being: Collaborative action research in five preschools

• Published in: Netla
• Main Authors: Karlsdóttir, Kristín, Björnsdóttir, Margrét Sigríður, Ólafsdóttir, Sara M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2020
• Subjects: preschool; assessing learning and well-being; learning stories; participation and collaborative action research; leikskólastarf; mat á námi; vellíðan; námssögur; þátttaka; samstarfsrannsóknir; New Zealand; Reykjavík
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/netla/article/view/3130; https://doi.org/10.24270/serritnetla.2020.1

The article reports on collaborative action research conducted jointly between RannUng (Centre for Research in Early Childhood Education) and five preschools in municipalities in the Reykjavík area. The aim of this action research was to develop methods to assess children’s learning and well-being as stated in the National curriculum guide (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið, 2012) [Ministry of Education, Science and Culture 2011 (2012)]. According to the National curriculum, varied assessment methods should be used in relation to the curricular aims. Children should be participants in the assessment and supported in reflecting on their own learning. Also, preschool teachers are expected to share and reflect on assessment together with parents. Therefore, a collaborative action research project was planned, for the purpose of assisting preschool teachers and assistant teachers in creating methods to capture children’s interest and activities in order to develop assessment practices that would reveal children’s learning and well-being in their play and interaction. Another aim was to share with families insights into children’s lives in the preschools and to use this information to improve preschool practice.During the first steps of the research project, preschool teachers and assistant teachers explored their own perspectives of children and their learning and mapped existing preschool assessment methods. As the participants regarded social skills and children’s well-being as the most important factors in preschools, they came to the conclusion that documentation might help to provide insight into children’s ways of interacting; their ideas, creative powers and well-being. Consequently, the participants acquainted themselves with documentations, starting by practicing documenting Learning Stories developed in New Zealand as an assessment method. According to the action research design the participants in each preschool chose and developed ways of documenting, focusing on how to make documentations and use the ...