Towards Formative Assessment: Exploring English Teachers’ Conceptions And Practices Of Assessment In Indonesia

Formative assessment has been considered a substantial element of curriculum reform across the world, and this is the case through the implementation of the new 2013 curriculum (K13) in Indonesia. This interpretivist mixed-methods study was developed to understand more about the key developments in teachers’ conceptions and practices of assessment; how teachers construe the influence of the K13 assessment policy on their assessment thinking and practices; the ranges of influence that teachers consider important for shaping their assessment practices and thinking; and the embedding of Assessment for Learning (AfL) strategies in classroom. Sociocultural theory and Normalisation Process Theory were employed to analyse and interpret the data.

Teacher assessment conceptions embrace values, purposes, and understanding, and are marked strongly by improvement and accountability orientations, and an implicit, less-developed conceptual and practical understanding of assessment. These conceptions were reflected in teachers’ assessment practices, which encompassed learning, grading, and promotion of learner agency, but the former two were more frequently emphasized. Attempts to integrate the K13 reforms had been initiated, but often lacked substantive features. Internal influences associated with students, teachers, and school resources/support affected teachers’ selection of assessment practices. The lack of assessment literacy, motivation and teaching commitment made the reform implementation difficult to carry out, within the inadequate learning resources. Externally, the government and parents lacked on-going monitoring and support.

The findings revealed some powerful influences on teachers’ conceptions, understanding and practices, suggesting that the integration of innovations should start from improving teachers’ understanding, and then move on to inform and adjust teachers’ perceptions about the reforms. This highlights the need for accountable professional development to improve teachers’ pedagogy and assessment literacy and the importance of a clear vision, on the part of designers and implementers, how the reforms are designed, implemented and evaluated to ensure effective embedding.