Technolandy

Day 40 (of SOL 2025) Dear @shanesafir & @sjeducate 8/10 “spoilers” of edutoxins in Pedagogy of Voice

Dear Shane and Sawsan… in Pedagogies of Voice, you bring up “10 Toxins” carried in the form of signature practices and dscourses – here is a thought on:

1. One and done assessment

Looks Like: 

• Banning revisions and retakes 
• Overemphasis on summative tests 
• Absence of regular wise feedback

Sound Like:

• “There will be no retakes of this quiz. If you’re not ready, it’s on you.” 
• “Let’s see who got the right answer.”
• “If you had paid attention … .” 
• “Stop asking for concessions and retakes. In the real world, there are no second chances, and it’s unfair to your peers.”

Feels Like:

A good talk about ‘why’ we assess… is it of, for, or as learning (or my soon-to-be-more-widely-shared mindset genre… with learning). Is it about hiring the content… for a day? To complete a test? For the long haul? Perform the same test a year or two later?  Or deeply where the learning is refined and reflected on with the key competencies being better embedded in our curriculum?  

If we want to compare students based on the same answers and make sure the round pegs only go in the round holes… then common assessments make sense – to determine where on the assembly line the worker will best fit… ooh, wait – new manufacturing complexes are automated so there is no place on an assembly line for a worker… just a short term contract for them to install the robot according to the ikea instructions! <— yeah, not so subtle metaphor that our school needs to better reflect the real world of next year than a wished for ‘everyone will have a prosperous job at the mill… factory… etc that are not coming back – promises like this only help the factory owners get richer… oops, I’ve gone a bet astray… 

Ken O’Connor has gone on for several books about the value of redos and retests if the learning is the most important part – multiple revisions show that learning does happen differently for different neurologies. What’s the worst that can happen – everyone gets an A (for those that still use those archaic measurements of meat quality…)