Session 7.2: An Holistic model of assessment and reflective practice

Scanlon, Lesley

The presentation examines an holistic model of assessment and reflective practice which is used to encourage third year students in the Faculty of Education and Social Work to make meaning of their transition to professional practice. The model will be explored from the perspectives of the literature, the lecturer and a student. The model is holistic and eschews a check list approach to assessment instead encouraging students to integrate course activities, which mirror professional practice, and theory in reflective journals. The presentation begins by examining the contested nature of reflection with reference first to the scholarly literature and second to the conceptualisation of reflection embedded in the model. The rationale for the adoption of the assessment and reflective practice model is explained in terms of the research literature. The literature suggests that although pre-service teachers ideas about professional practice are resistant to change reflective practice may be one way of encouraging students to scrutinize their ideas and assumptions as a prelude to discovering new understandings leading to change. A discussion of the activities in which students engage and how these activities contribute to students’ professional preparedness follows. The model draws on a century of scholarly research and on student evaluations of the assessment and reflection process. The student perspective is explored through reference to ‘Rachel’s’ journal. This journal captures a student’s engagement with reflection and assessment through the integration of theory and practice as she contemplates the nature of professional practice.