Do I
believe young children holistically should be measured or assessed? Just
as we cannot measure the success of a family without considering culture
neither can we assess an individual based on another individual. If you decide to measure a
child on any aspect, I believe you should take into consideration their
background, culture, language, and experience. In South Korea they have created
a culturally non-biased assessment specifically designed for international
schools. In order to do this they meet weekly with the students and parents to
discuss their concerns academically and personally. In
assessing children we must consider all factors that come into play to include
culture and whether or not the children received equal amounts of education
and/or preparation to be successful in the assessment given.
Katz, L. (n.d.). A developmental approach to assessment of young children.
Retrieved from http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/assess.development.html
International school
of busan, a world-wide family school. (2008). Retrieved from
http://www.isbusan.org/php/content-28p17a1b2.htm
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we need to consider everything in terms of assessing children, including their background, cultures and so on. It's interesting to hear about a culturally non-biased assessment. I would like to learn more about this in the future.
I agree culturally relevant assessments are crucial as we assess children's strengths and progress. Children's learning and development is influenced by many cultural indicators. This is defined as being made up of three elements within the environments of the children that influence their development (Smidt, 2006). Lansdowne refers to these as follows:
ReplyDelete1. The physical and social settings of the child.
2. The culturally regulated customs and practices.
3. The beliefs or ethno-theories of the parents.
These indicators reflect all developmental areas and influence a child's ability and their preparedness for learning.
Smidt, S. (2006). The Developing Child in the 21st Century: A global perspective on child development. New York, NY: Routledge
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. As I read about South Korea, I found that I had assumptions about the quality of their education by a very limited understanding of their culture. I am impressed that they are doing more to understand and meet the academic and personal needs of their children than many of our schools do. I am very sheltered being born and raised in a rural area in northern Michigan. I am thankful for our studies stretching my understanding and breaking down assumptions and stereotypes.
Hi Amanda. I agree with this idea that assessments are designed specifically for their setting. As we know, blanket policies are full of holes. Specially designed tools are less likely to have errors and truely assess the children on their terms .
ReplyDeleteBackgroumd and cultures play a huge role when determing factors about people. Everyone is not taught the same nor same the same approach for teaching children. Great post, I look forward more useful and informative post.
ReplyDelete