Assessment in inclusive education

• Main Authors: Harðardóttir, Auður Lilja, Karlsdóttir, Jóhanna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2020
• Subjects: inclusive education; assessment; formative assessment; growth mindset; skóli án aðgreiningar; námsmat; leiðsagnarmat; vaxtarsjálf; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/netla/article/view/3114

Inclusive education has been subject to controversial reviews over the last decade and is riddled with uncertainty as to how it should be implemented. Key concepts in inclusive education are quality education, full participation, equal opportunities and democratic values. In Iceland a common understanding of the policy is that all students have educational opportunities in their home school, regardless of physical, mental or social abilities or cultural origin.Contradictory definitions of the policy have, nonetheless, had an impact on teachers’ views and beliefs. This is in part because difficulties have arisen in translating the concept of inclusive education. Increased awareness has emerged for the shared understanding of the epistemology base behind the policy for all stakeholders, within and outside the schools themselves.When meeting the needs of all pupils, teachers are key agents in differentiated teaching and instructions. Studies have, however, indicated that assessment has not been efficiently linked to differentiated instruction and assessment in Iceland. Assessment is seen as a comprehensive concept and its main purpose is to guide and motivate students towards further learning, inspire and promote metacognition.The main purpose of assessment for learning is to evaluate students and use the information to have a positive effect on children’s learning. It focuses on the students’ abilities to further their own learning, by participating in both the process of learning and the assessment. This in turn, gives the child increased awareness of responsibility, eagerness to learn and fosters self-belief. Quality assessment can increase students’ participation in their own learning and have a positive effect on growth mindset.Individuals who view themselves from the perspective of a growth mindset, believe they have abilities to affect their learning process, by intuition and tenacity. Challenges are opportunities to learn from and grow and achievement is derived by working hard. With this in mind the ...